Brotherly Love After All
by Dr. Magic PhD
Summary: Episode 4 in the "Complete" series: What happens when the three most powerful male witches of all time have to deal with one of the most powerful demons in the world? It's a battle of reputations!
1. Up All Night

_Here we go with episode 4 of my "Complete" Series! I just couldn't wait to start publishing it! I'm not anywhere close to being done with it, so any suggestions are very welcome!_

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The residents of Oxford, Georgia were all tucked away warmly in bed, snoring away the hours. It was way past midnight on that particularly cold winter night. Suddenly, the silence of the night was pierced by the sound of three distinct footsteps, all running, headed down an abandoned street on the other side of town. Their target had disappeared behind a three-way alley, leaving them all confused and very out of breath.

"Which way did he go?" James asked, panting.

"There are three alleys," Matthew said. "What's your bet?"

"_Three _alleys," Wesley commented. "How convenient. You know, this _would_ have to happen right before Christmas Break… Where does each one lead?"

"I think they all open up to the same place further down," Matthew guessed.

"So we'll each take one and meet up at the other end," Wesley suggested.

"There's not really any other choice," Matthew said as he and Wesley set off in opposite directions.

"Wait," James said. "I think it would be better if we all went down one together. It's pretty dark and neither of y'all have any offensive powers to fight with."

"You're joking, aren't you?" Wesley asked. "Listen, Jimmy. I know you're the oldest and all, but I think you might be throwing yourself into the role just a little bit too much."

"Agreed," Matthew said. "And, the more time we sit here and convince you that we're right, the harder it's gonna be for us to find this demon. So, we'll meet you at the other end."

"Don't worry," Wesley added, while walking, "We'll see you on the other side in two minutes."

James sighed as he watched his two younger brothers disappear into the two side alleys before he headed into the middle one. He realized that they were right, of course. It hadn't been that long ago when Wesley decided to reunite himself with him and Matthew. It was then that they began to realize the importance of being brothers. Since then, just over a month ago, they started to bond as brothers.

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Wesley slithered through the left alley as quickly and quietly as he could, looking in every direction possible. His fear of the dark, combined with his fear of just about everything else, gave him a sense of ubiquitous paranoia. Everything he saw was a potential threat to him, waiting until he least suspected it to pounce upon him. He walked even faster. He felt that running was way too loud; he didn't want to chance anything at this point. After what seemed like an eternity, he noticed that the light was becoming brighter; the exit was quickly approaching! He sighed at the thought that he would be safe, but quickly changed his attitude when he realized that it meant that one of his brothers wouldn't be so lucky. Suddenly, he heard a commotion and heard someone shout an obscenity. It had happened; either Matthew or James had been attacked. He broke into a run, hoping that he could make it to the exit in time.

He finally reached the end of his alley, which formed a large area that also connected with the other two alleys. He was just in time to see James hurtling through the air on a collision course with a brick wall. At that point, Matthew had just arrived from his own alley. They had to think of something quickly or else James' head would shatter upon impact with the wall. Wesley instinctively gestured toward James, but nothing happened; he forgot that his power to stop time did not work on family. He not-so-silently cursed his power. Matthew, on the other hand, also reached out a hand towards James, with no particular idea of what he was going to do. As if it were planned all along, the wall suddenly began rippling and soon became transparent. James passed right through it! Wesley looked at Matthew puzzlingly, while Matthew only returned the expression.

"Did _you_ do that?" Wesley asked.

"I don't know," Matthew said. "I mean, I think so…"

"Where did he go, then?" Wesley asked. "What building was that?"

"I don't know," Matthew said. "I don't plan these things!"

Their conversation was interrupted by the demon, who wasted no time in attacking. He grabbed the nearest object to him, a large wooden crate, and hurled it at the two brothers. Not paying any attention, the crate almost struck both of them before it magically veered off course and crashed safely on the ground. Wesley, Matthew, and the demon all turned around to see James standing back in the alley. He made a rigorous backhand motion with his right hand and the demon was swept off his feet and thrown into a dumpster. James rejoined his brothers.

"Where did you go?" Matthew asked.

"It was weird," James said. "I thought I was dead for a minute, but then I saw that I was in some old tampon factory. What happened, anyway?"

"I think my powers advanced or something," Matthew answered. "I don't know how else to explain it."

"You ended up in a _tampon factory_?" Wesley asked, laughing. "I always wondered what that building was… HEY!"

Wesley panicked and shot his hands out, freezing the demon in his tracks, right before he could attack again. The three brothers backed away slowly, acting as though the demon was going to unfreeze at any moment.

"It's about time we got him," Wesley commented. "I think he's been the hardest one so far to get."

"He's definitely the only one who's been bold enough to keep us up all hours of the night," James said. "Let's vanquish him and go to bed."

"Amen," Wesley agreed as Matthew pulled a piece of paper out of his pocket.

"_Abolish his powers.  
Banish his hours.  
Within this time and space,  
Send him away forever from this place."_

Upon completion of the spell, the demon unfroze and twisted in his own fate. Fire appeared from nowhere and consumed his body until he exploded into pieces that scattered on the ground before eventually dissolving away into nothing. Satisfied with the outcome, the brothers left the scene, adding another victory to their score.

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_I can't do the horizontal line thing, so the dashes will have to do for now... Such is the life of a witch: always having to chase demon after demon after warlock after warlock after who knows what! Coming up in the next chapter: James makes a far-out suggestion to his brothers, who don't exactly take it the way he hopes they will…_


	2. Just A Suggestion!

"I was thinking," James said as he drove his brothers back to Oxford.

"Congratulations," Wesley announced from the back seat as Matthew laughed.

"At least _that one_ never gets old," James said.

"That's a comeback?" Wesley asked.

"_You're_ a comeback!" James shouted before calming down again. "Like I said, I was thinking that maybe y'all could come and spend Christmas here, with me and my family."

"Are you serious?" Matthew asked. "I mean, don't you think that's a little bit insensitive?"

"What do you mean?" James asked. "I thought it would be nice."

"It _is_ nice," Wesley argued, "but I think that you've forgotten that we have families of our own. We can't just not go back home."

"Well," James said, scratching his head, "it seems dangerous to be so far from each other for so long considering what we do."

"Again with the overacting," Wesley said. "Jimmy, you're a nice person and all, but as the token youngest brother let me just say that it's very annoying to have somebody always holding your hand and constantly trying to protect you from anything and everything that comes your way. Besides, we're all adults here and don't really need to be _that_ close to each other."

"Are you kidding?" Matthew asked. "I have a feeling that we're gonna get closer and closer over time, whether we like it or not. Face it, little brother, we have to live with the fact that our lives will almost always be on the line. Having to constantly save each other and other innocents really helps to bring people together."

"He's right," James said. "And you're just a kid, Wesley. You need guidance."

"Save the jokes," Wesley said dryly. "I'm just saying that you can't learn anything if you don't learn anything."

"What did you say?" James asked suddenly. He remembered John, the mysterious guardian angel who appeared to him, saying those exact words before.

"I said…" Wesley began again before being cut off.

"I heard what you said," James said.

"Then why did you ask?" Wesley asked, confused.

"Okay," Matthew said. "Here's the deal. Jimmy, I already have plans to go back to Pennsylvania and homeboy's going back to Texas. If we hadn't already made plans then we'd probably stay. Nothing's going to happen to us; we've been demon free since homeboy's birthday."

"Only because we haven't brought the subject up, Matt," Wesley said. "And where did this new nickname come from all of a sudden? _Homeboy_?"

"So are y'all trying to say no?" James asked.

"Yes!" Matthew and Wesley answered together.

"Christmas is about being with family," Matthew said. "Yeah, we're all family, but I think at this stage it's better to spend the holiday with families that are already established. It's not like we won't see each other again."

"Matt," Wesley said semi-angrily, "stop teasing evil, please!"

"Sorry," Matthew said.

"Hey!" James shouted as he slammed on the brakes.

"What the hell is it?" Wesley asked as he was thrown into the back of Matthew's seat. "Sorry! I forgot I wasn't wearing a seatbelt! You could've just told me."

"I just thought of something else," James said, briefly turning to Wesley. "Shut up, Wesley. What if the reason that we haven't been…busy…is because _they've_ been waiting until now, when we're all splitting up?"

"What?" Wesley asked.

"It makes sense," Matthew agreed. "We're strongest when we're all together, right? Now that I think about it, it seems that every demon or whatever has been trying to split us up so that we'll be weaker. Maybe they know that Christmas would split us up for a long enough time to make a move."

"So," Wesley said, "y'all think that they're waiting for us to go to our own homes in different states so we won't be in constant contact with each other?"

"Yeah," James said. "If we can't get to each other, then we'll be more vulnerable and just might not make it back to Oxford after the break."

"That makes me feel better, Jimmy," Wesley said. "I don't wanna put my family at risk. I haven't even told them about any of this."

"Same here," Matthew said.

"Me too," James added.

"Well, what can we do?" Wesley asked.

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"You have failed us," Tenebrion, one of the five members of the Council of Evil announced as Lina appeared in the room in a burst of fire.

"No," Lina said. "I have decided to take a different course of action."

"One that involves you bedding one of the witches?" Anamalech inquired.

"We didn't 'bed,'" Lina protested. "We just talked. It's all part of my plan. Instead of risking full exposure…no pun intended…, I thought that if I could get one of them on my side, then the other two would follow suit. In this case, the oldest one is the hottest catch because he acts very protective and his personality would be the easiest to bend."

"Are you sure?" Ardad asked, tapping his fingers together. "It seems that your plan involves a lot of interaction with the oldest brother."

"Indeed," Mastiphal added. "You cannot allow your personal feelings, whatever they may be, to interfere with your assignment."

"My feelings, I asuure you," Lina said, "are not what you think."

"If that is your opinion," Andras said.

"It is," Lina said as she flamed out of the mysterious chamber.

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_Personally, I thought that Jimmy's offer was kind of nice. I mean, he didn't **have** to invite anybody anywhere! Oh well… Coming up: Jimmy has managed to convince his brothers to stay, but can they convince their own families?_


	3. Late Night Phone Conversations

_Sorry to be crankin' these chapters out all willy-nilly like I am! It'll stop soon enough when I stop being far ahead enough to do what I do! There's no supernatural action in this chapter, but it's still an important piece of the entire puzzle that is my "Complete" series, so enjoy!_

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"You what!?" Wesley's mother yelled over the phone.

"I'm not coming home for Christmas," Wesley said calmly. "Something came up and I thought it would be better if I stayed here."

"What are you talking about?" his mother asked loudly. "All of your family is here in Texas, not in Georgia. What's more important that your family during Christmas?"

"Just," Wesley said uneasily, "something. I was invited to spend Christmas with friends and I thought I'd go with them."

"Don't lie to me," his mother snapped. "I know you're lying. You're not good at it. I want you to tell me what is going on down there right now!"

"Alright," Wesley sighed, "but you made me tell you. Now, I don't know why you didn't tell me this earlier in life, but the secret's out that I'm adopted."

"You _know_!?" she asked. "Who told you?"

"I just sort of…found out," Wesley said. "Why didn't _you_ tell _me_?"

"I didn't tell you because," she said, now in a very calm tone, "I wasn't supposed to. You were a special child, you know. From the first day I saw you, I knew that you were going to make something out of yourself. I knew that you would make it out there as a successful black man."

"That's nice and all, mama," Wesley said, "but what does that have to do with anything?"

"If you would let me finish," she continued, "the truth is that I didn't really _actually_ adopt you. You were just…sent here to me. The lady who brought you to me told me that you were a 'twice-blessed child' who deserved a very normal upbringing and that I had been chosen as the one who could do that for you.

"She never told me who she was, or where you came from, but she said that you were going to be a very special person one day who would help fulfill a prophecy. I tried to ask her what the hell she was talking about, but she only told me that much. Well, that and that I couldn't tell you about this until you asked. You were supposed to find out for yourself, which you have, I guess."

"The hard way," Wesley added.

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"She delivered you to me," Matthew's mother said to him over the telephone. "You couldn't have been more than a few days old. She said that you were of a very unique and special lineage, born of both sides, but that you deserved a normal life. She said that you were destined for great things, and that you would help fulfill a prophecy. She wouldn't tell me anything else, except that I had been chosen to raise you and to never tell you this until after you found out for yourself."

"But what does that mean?" Matthew asked his mother. "What does it mean to be 'born of both sides?'"

"If I knew," she answered, "I'd tell you. But I don't know what any of it means, so apparently it's something that you have to figure out for yourself. So, you said you're not coming home for Christmas?"

"Yeah," Matthew said. "I met some friends here and we've decided to spend Christmas here and just kinda travel around. Maybe take a road trip or something like that."

"That sounds…" Matthew's mother said slowly, before changing her words, "like fun. I'm sure you'll have a great time."

"Then it's okay?" Matthew asked.

"You're an adult now," she said. "I think you're able to make your own choices from now on. We'd like to see you here, but as long as you're happy, I'll be okay."

"You sure?" Matthew asked.

"Sure, I'm sure," she replied.

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"What does it mean to be 'born of both sides?'" James asked his father over the telephone.

"Hell if I know," his father answered. "That was all the lady told me when she brought you here."

"Wait," James said. "You're saying that I was _sent_ to you? How was I _sent_ to you?"

"Pay attention, son," his father said. "I told you that I took you in, but because the lady told me that I was chosen to take care of you and to make sure that you got a good childhood. She said that you were going to fulfill some kind of prophecy in the future, but I just thought that she was old and eccentric."

"That's weird," James said. "So now that the secret's been let out, is there anything else that you know?"

"Just one more thing," he said to James. "I'm supposed to let you live your own life now. Apparently, there are things out there that you have to handle that I don't even know about. I don't know what's with the big secret, but I have something here for you that the lady gave me."

"What is it?" James asked.

"I don't know," he answered. "It's some old envelope. The lady told me to never open it and to just give it to you when you found out about…this. So after she left, of course I tried to open it, but it wouldn't budge. I don't know what's wrong with it. Maybe it's too old. But it's here for you."

"Strange," James said. "Now, what was that thing about letting me live my own life now?"

----- ----- ----- ----- -----

"It seemed like she was just telling me to let you go or something," Matthew's mother said. "Like I would ever do that."

"Why is all of this happening now?" Matthew asked as something clicked inside his head. "It does make sense, though."

"What makes sense?" she asked. "Do you know something else?"

"Just that," Matthew began before realizing that he could never reveal who he really was to his mother, "I'm starting to see that it all had to wait until I was an actual adult, you know?"

----- ----- ----- ----- -----

"I guess so," Wesley's mother sighed. "But you know we'll miss you this year, don't you?"

"I know," Wesley said, "but I'll be back other times. It's not like I'm leaving for good."

"You're right," she said, "I guess…"

"Stop tryin' to make me feel guilty about this," Wesley said.

"Okay," she replied in a monotone voice.

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"I'm way past the guilt trip thing," Matthew said.

"I thought it was worth a try," Matthew's mother said. "Will I ever see you again?"

"Of course," Matthew said. "This is just Christmas Break. I'm not gone for good, you know. It's not the end of the world."

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"It's like the end of an era," James father likened the situation.

"Maybe," James said, confused. "Well, I'll be by to pick up the envelope that you apparently can't open later on tonight. I might be bringing some friends with me. We're all gonna hang out over the holiday."

"Okay," James' father said. "I'll see you, son."

"Bye," James said, hanging up the phone.

----- ----- ----- ----- -----

"Love you," Wesley's mother said.

"Love you, too," Wesley said, annoyed. He hated when his mother said that to him now that he considered himself an adult.

----- ----- ----- ----- -----

"Take care," Matthew's mother said. "And stay warm. Do you have enough underwear to last you through…"

"I'm fine, Ma!" Matthew exclaimed. "Goodbye!"

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_If things weren't bad enough! Now Jimmy and company have to leave behind the very people who raised them, all because of this witch thing! Isn't that horrible? I wouldn't wish that on my worst enemy! Well, maybe I…NO, definitely not! Coming up: just when they thought that their demon problems were over for the holidays…BLIZZAM!!!_


	4. The Unvanquished

_Silly Raya! I know who Wyatt Matthew Halliwell is! I was just wondering if he had grown up or something or if that particular scene was from in the future or what? I'm old and I get confused easily. And what's with the name change…again? You change your name more than Prince…_

_----- ----- ----- ----- -----_

Wesley walked across the Quad, the centrally located quadrangle on Oxford's campus, over to the Student Center. One thing he had to admit was that everything was within close proximity at that school; he didn't have to waste much energy at all, which was good because he considered himself lazy. He opened his mailbox, hoping for any kind of letter, but all he had received (all he ever received) was a credit card bill. He hastily stuffed the bill into his pocket and stalked away, only to be met by Stephanie, his new girlfriend whom he had just met a little over a month ago.

Back during Wesley's surprise birthday party, James and Matthew had introduced Wesley to Stephanie in hopes that he would stop being so self-conscious around women. Fortunately, the meeting worked out very well and the two of them had been dating ever since. He would always remember the first time that he met her; it was in the midst of a demon attack. He had covered for her while she was at her work-study job and was able to convince her that a demon had never been there in the first place. When it came down to it, he could be pretty clever in sticky situations.

"Hey!" Stephanie called to him.

"Oh, hey!" he called back. "What are you doing out so late?"

"I called your room to see if you wanted to go to a movie, but Matt said that you were here," she said.

"Yeah," he said, "here I am. I was just walking around and decided to check my mail."

"Get anything good?" she asked.

"Bills," he replied. "All I get are bills. So, what movie are you up for seeing?"

"I don't know," she said. "I feel like something funny, though. What about you?"

"Always," he said simply. "Let's roll. Let me stop by my room to drop this bill off."

The two of them walked back across the Quad to Branham Hall. It was only around ten o'clock that night, yet nobody seemed to be around. That usually happened, though. On the weekends, most students found that they needed to be in a club or a place with more of a civilization than the dull country life that was Oxford. After about six or seven o'clock on Friday nights, the campus would become very empty.

They held hands as they walked back to Wesley's dorm room. As they reached the middle of the Quad, Stephanie looked up and saw something strange flying above them, its eerie silhouette cast against the full moon. As she studied it, it seemed to grow bigger and bigger, or was it coming closer and closer! She squeezed Wesley's hand to get his attention; her other hand was covering her mouth as she seemed to had lost the will to speak. Wesley looked at her puzzlingly, not knowing what was going on above him. Only when Stephanie pointed upwards did he see what he feared the most: a demon flying right towards him right before Christmas Break began.

He grabbed Stephanie and together they dove out of the demon's path. He covered her with his body, trying to make sure that she wouldn't get hurt as well as not see what might happen in the coming moments. They had just missed the demon's dive towards them. He arced gracefully back into the air, preparing himself for another attack.

"Stay down," Wesley ordered. "I'll try to hold him off."

"But you don't even know what it is!" Stephanie argued.

"Just stay down!" Wesley repeated as the demon descended upon them again. "And wait for my signal to run!"

Wesley waited until the demon was within striking range. He gestured towards the demon and froze him in midair, mere feet from where he was standing. He extended his foot and kicked the demon as hard as he could, breaking the freeze and sending the demon tumbling onto the ground, dazed. He limped back to Stephanie, who was curled up on the ground.

"Go, now!" he shouted. "Go get my brothers and tell them to get their asses here right now!"

Stephanie only nodded and set off towards Branham Hall as quickly as she could move. Back on the Quad, Wesley kicked the demon again with his other foot.

"And _that's_ for making my right foot hurt!" he said.

The demon sprang back to his feet and immediately launched himself at Wesley, who wasn't prepared for a full on battle. He had no time to freeze the demon again, so she did the next best thing: run. He ran faster than he ever remembered being able to run. He wished that he could've run that fast during his high school track meets, he thought. He looked behind him once to see if he needed to go faster, but saw nothing. The brief moment he took to check caused him to miss that the demon had once again taken flight and was now in front of him. Without noticing, he ran right into the demon, who was in the shape of a very tall man.

Wesley bounced off of the demon and fell to the ground, slightly dazed. His attacker walked to him and stood over him, laughing. Wesley recognized that face; it was the same demon he and his brothers had vanquished the night before. The demon raised his hand and a long sword materialized into his hand as he prepared to stab Wesley.

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_The same demon? Hehhh? Interesting twist; I guess this one just refuses to stay dead. Oh well, I hope the brothers can do something about that. Otherwise I'm gonna get paranoid. Anyway, next chapter: the brothers come to Wesley's aid, but can they defeat this new threat?_


	5. Saving the Night

_Big shouts to **Raya Halliwell/x Raya/Raya Sparrow/The Writer Formerly Known As Raya/(symbol)/The Writer/etc**… She seems to be the only one with any input on this story. Is it that bad, y'all?_

_----- ----- ----- ----- -----_

"Oh my God!" Stephanie shouted as she stormed into Wesley and Matthew's dorm room, where Matthew and James were watching television. They quickly jumped up at the sound of her voice.

"What's wrong?" James asked.

"It was…" she tried to say, but she found herself unable to make any complete thoughts. "He flew…and we…then Wesley…GO HELP HIM NOW!!!"

"Calm down," Matthew said. "Slow down and tell us what's going on."

"There's," Stephanie began, still panting heavily, "a man flying…on the Quad…and Wesley's out there…and he needs y'all's help…"

"Okay," James said. "Um, you stay here and you'll be safe. And if anybody asks, don't say a word about this."

"Okay," she replied as she sat down.

"Just relax and watch TV," Matthew said. "We'll be back in a minute."

"Hurry," she said as they bolted out of the room.

----- ----- ----- ----- -----

They bounded through the Branham-East Lobby, where both Branham and East Halls were connected (hence, the name) and out the door. The Quad was dark due to an absence of streetlamps. After Christmas Break, Matthew vowed to petition the deans to have some installed around the campus. Not having any lights outside didn't discourage the students from being outside; it only made situations like this a lot worse.

They ran blindly into the middle of the Quad, where they could barely make out two bodies that were reflecting moonlight. One had a sword of some sort, and was standing over the other. Instantly assessing the situation, James and Matthew dashed towards the scene. James extended his right hand out while running and the sword removed itself from the demons' hand and embedded itself into a nearby tree. Wesley grasped the opportunity and kicked the demon between the legs, temporarily disengaging him and giving his brothers enough time to arrive.

"Sorry," Wesley said to the demon as he stood to his feet, "I don't usually play fair when it comes to y'all messing with my girl."

"Save the trash talk," James said as he and Matthew arrived. "What's happening? Stephanie ran into the room hysterical."

"This guy," Wesley said, pointing to the demon. "He attacked us while we were walking back from the Student Center. Y'all won't believe it, but it's the same guy we vanquished last night."

"What?" Matthew asked. "Are you sure?"

"Yes," Wesley persisted. "I don't know what's going on, but it's definitely the same guy."

"Well, let's say the spell again," James said. "Maybe it's more powerful if all three of us say it."

"_Abolish his powers.  
Banish his hours.  
Within this time and space,  
Send him away forever from this place!"_

At that moment, the demon forgot all about the pain Wesley had inflicted as flames began to engulf him. Black smoke was emitted from his body as he yelled in pain. Without warning, the demon exploded into bits and pieces that scattered on the ground temporarily before dissolving into nothing.

"Hopefully that settled everything," Matthew said.

"Good," Wesley said. "Now I can go to the movies."

"Tonight?" James asked. "You can't go tonight."

"Why?" Wesley asked. "There's nothing else here to do."

"I'm going to my dad's to pick up something important and I invited y'all to come along," James said.

"And we said yes," Matthew added.

"Hold up," Wesley said. "First of all, _we_ didn't say anything. Second, y'all can't just volunteer me for things I don't know about. Third, I have a girlfriend now."

"She'll understand," James said. "Lina did when I told her."

"Who?" Wesley asked.

"Some girl he met at your birthday party," Matthew said. "Apparently, they hit it off and are dating now."

"Well good for you," Wesley said carelessly, "but this is about me. I'll see y'all later tonight, and tell your daddy I said hello."

Wesley walked back towards Branham Hall, but an invisible force prevented him from taking any more steps. He looked back to see James holding his hand out and using his power to keep Wesley in place.

"No fair!" Wesley whined. "You can't do that!"

"I can do whatever I want," James said. "Now, either you can come with us by choice or by force."

"Force," Wesley said defiantly.

----- ----- ----- ----- -----

James, Matthew, and Wesley sped down the highway in James' truck. They were headed to Alpharetta, which was about an hour and a half from Oxford. James was anxious to see what could possibly be in an envelope that was apparently so strong that his father, or anyone for that matter, couldn't open it. What if the reason was because only a certain person could open it, James thought. He and Matthew conversed about the various possibilities of what was actually inside the envelope. Eventually, Wesley snapped out of his sullen mood and joined in the conversation.

"I still don't know why y'all forced me to come with y'all," Wesley said. "What's so important that it takes all three of us to come?"

"It may be something that's related to all three of us," James said. "And I told you Stephanie would understand."

"As long as you don't ruin our relationship," Wesley said. "Then I'll have to whoop ass."

"You couldn't even take us earlier," Matthew cut in. "Face it, homeboy, you came out with the short end of the stick."

"That's what you think," Wesley responded. "I could take either of y'all if I really wanted to. I just don't, though, because we're brothers and all."

"And because we're older and bigger," James added. "Accept it, Shorty. At least we're on your side."

"True," Wesley said, abruptly changing the subject. "So, what's _really_ in this envelope?"

"We don't really know," Matthew said. "It's a mystery. Could be anything."

"We should probably be careful, though," James said. "If my dad couldn't open it, it has to be magical."

"Why didn't either of us get one?" Wesley asked. "How come you were the only one of us to get an envelope? Aren't we special enough?"

"What are you talking about?" James asked. "_You're_ the 'twice-blessed' one, whatever that means."

"What _does_ that mean, anyway?" Matthew asked.

"Who knows?" Wesley said. "Probably the same thing as being 'born of both sides.'"

"Maybe what's in the envelope has all our answers," James said.

----- ----- ----- ----- -----

_Maybe, Jimmy, maybe. Coming up: the brothers meet James' dad, who gives James the envelope and we finally get to see what's inside…provided that James can even open it._


	6. The Letter

They continued to drive down Interstate 20, through Atlanta, and out of the "Perimeter," which was what the border of Atlanta was called. Around the entire city ran one highway, Interstate 285, that was oval-shaped. On the inside of I-285 was the city of Atlanta; the outside was home to several suburbs, including Alpharetta.

They finally reached James' house late that night. It was around midnight when they arrived. James lived in a huge two-story home that seemed to stretch across the whole street. He pulled into the driveway and led his brothers inside, where his father sat waiting.

James' father looked exactly like Lou Ferrigno, except he was a little older. He was tall like James, perhaps taller, and looked intimidating. To any outsider, he looked like he should have been James' actual father. He hugged James and shook both Wesley and Matthew's hands after he had been introduced to them and invited them into the living room to sit.

"Are you sure we should be talking about this in front of them?" his father, Richard, asked, gesturing towards Matthew and Wesley.

"It's okay," James said. "They know. Actually, we're all kind of in this together. See, we found out that we're _all_ adopted."

"Rather," Matthew continued, "we were all sent to someone. Then we all just happened to end up at Oxford and find each other."

"We're all brothers," James said. "The three of us."

"_All_ of y'all?" Richard asked in disbelief, looking at Wesley.

"Yes," Wesley answered politely, "_all_ of us. And if you meant me, then I'm the tokenhalf-brother with a different father."

"I see," Richard responded. "Well, the envelope, here it is. I can't imagine for the life of me why I can't open it. Here, you try."

With that, he handed the envelope to James, who examined it closely. The outside was completely blank. The envelope itself looked old and tattered; it had been sealed for twenty years, after all. He slid a finger under one side of the back and easily tore it open. Richard gasped in amazement.

"I tried that!" he exclaimed. "It didn't work. What did you do to it?"

"I opened it," James said simply.

"What's in it?" Matthew asked.

James pulled out the contents and studied them carefully. There was a letter and another document of some sort. He looked at Wesley and with his head, motioned towards his father. Wesley got the picture and froze Richard while he and Matthew gathered around James.

"What is it?" Wesley asked.

"There's a letter from our real parents," James said, "and some kind of legal document attached."

"Well?" Matthew said. "Read the letter."

"_To my three handsome young men, _

"By the time you all read this, I will be dead, but do not worry about me. The important thing is that you are all together, bound as brothers by love, and as witches, by the Book of Light. Use it wisely so that your paths will never be filled with darkness. I truly regret the circumstances under which you are all reading this, but trust me that it is all for the best.

"James, you are the most powerful of the three as the oldest. You have no choice but to lead your brothers. Your power of telekinesis is an advancement of your father's ability to deflect things. Use your powers wisely, and protect over your brothers. They need you, but don't forget that you also need them. Don't let your arrogance cloud your judgment. Just because you're the oldest doesn't mean that you are always in charge.

"Matthew, you are the heart of the three, providing balance and (dare I say) mediation. It is your job to keep your brothers in line; they will turn to you more times than you may care to think about. Your power to phase came from my power of invisibility. It will protect you in more ways than you know. Take care of yourself, and your family.

"Wesley, you are and will always be my very special youngest baby. You were born of very different circumstances, but here you are. While I cannot tell you the truth about your other half, I can say that your paths will cross many times, whether you know it or not. You are the free-spirited one of the three, and as such you will experience the most growth. Trust and believe in your brothers; they will always take care of you. Your power to stop time is an advancement of my ability to slow down time. It suits your personality perfectly.

"I'm sure you're all wondering how I knew so much about you before you did yourselves. Before I gave birth to Matthew, I received a premonition. I saw the three of you meeting each other for the first time. I saw the three of you reading this letter right now, and I saw you three fulfilling your destiny. Needless to say, it was a long premonition (cinema length, almost). I have faith in all of you that you will do what you are all capable of doing.

"I picked three specific people to take care of each of you. I can't explain why, but in my heart I knew that they could raise you well, which they did. I can't thank them enough for what they have done, and you should thank them from the bottoms of your hearts for everything that they have sacrificed in order to give you normal lives.

"But now, your lives are hardly normal anymore. It's something that you all have to realize before you can effectively carry on towards your destiny. You three are going to be the most powerful witches the world will ever know. Don't let that go straight to your heads! Rely on each other for assistance. Above all, you are brothers first, witches later. Cherish the brotherly bond that you have. It will grow into something that you never thought was possible.

"_Now I must end this letter. I thought that if I kept writing, eventually I would be able to think of a better way to protect you than sending you off, but no matter how hard I try, there's no better way. Take care of yourselves, and of each other. You three are very special and I love you with all my heart. We will see each other again._

"_With All The Love In The World,_

"_Mom_

"_PS: The legal-looking document attached is the deed to our house. Everything has been taken care of. It's yours. The keys are also here. Oh, and on the back is the name of the repairman we always call. He gets most of his business from us, so don't let him down!"_

_----- ----- ----- ----- -----_

_Some letter, huh? So finally they have some kind of explanation of what the hell is going on, even though it's still not enough for them. But something is better than nothing, I always say. And hopefully some questions any of y'all may have had were sort of answered. More importantly, coming up in the next chapter: James' father, Richard, unfreezes and wants to know what's going on, and a confrontation between two characters that is almost fatal!_


	7. Dissention Among the Ranks?

Suddenly, Richard unfroze, oblivious to the fact that Wesley had frozen him at all. He looked at Matthew and Wesley suspiciously. To him, they had just instantly moved from their chairs to where James said. He blinked his eyes again, wondering if what he had seen was real. But it was; they _had_ moved in the blink of an eye. He jumped up.

"Dad?" James asked, but that was all he could get out.

Jimmy," Richard called out, "get away from those two! They just, they moved to where you are in the blink of an eye! I saw it myself!"

"Crap," Wesley said in a low voice.

"You mean 'shit,'" Matthew corrected. "Mr. Armstrong, there's a reasonable explanation for what you think you saw."

"Well, let's hear it then," he replied.

"Jimmy," Matthew prodded, "you better tell him."

* * *

Lina tiptoed carefully through James' dorm room, acting as if someone might wake up if she made a noise. She looked everywhere, from behind the posters to under the sink. But unless it was in a highly obvious place, the Book of Light was nowhere to be found. She didn't stop, though. She kept moving around the room, anxious to find anything that would be of use to her. Then she saw something; a smile slowly stretched across her face to accompany the redness that had begun to manifest itself. She picked up the object and stared at it longingly, like it would come to life at any given moment. Right before she could conceal it, a shadowy figure appeared behind her, catching her off guard.

He swiftly placed both hands around her waist, startling her. Instinctively, she turned around and kneed her "assailant" between the legs, giving her time to make her next move. She quickly followed with a punch to the face and a powerful kick to the chest that knocked him onto James' bed. She held up her hand and lightning flickered from her palm threateningly. She slowly walked towards the man.

"Calm down!" the man said, raising his hands.

"Tom?" she asked as she extinguished the lightning and turned on the light. Now she was able to see that the man she had fended off was the same demon who she had enlisted to help her kill the Complete.

"Of course it's me, you git!" he retorted in his Southern British accent. "Why are you so jumpy? Maybe it's your new _boyfriend_…"

"He is _not_ my boyfriend!" Lina snapped. "I'm just doing some covert research."

"Is that so?" Thomas asked. "Then why were you swooning so much over a picture of him that, if I'm correct, you were planning to steal for yourself?"

"It was," Lina said slowly, trying to think of an answer, "for my plans. I need to…know everything about the three of them so that I can do my job."

"Why don't you just take them on, one-on-one?" Thomas asked. "You _are_ an assassin, after all."

"Because," Lina explained, "these aren't regular witches I'm dealing with. These are the Complete, the most powerful witches ever. You don't go about killing them by just jumping into things. You have to plan."

"Which is what you have clearly been doing," Thomas replied. "So far, you've gotten one demon killed by them, Krasney, I believe. You're not planning on having that happen to me, are you?"

"That was a fluke," Lina said quickly. "It's not my intention to kill other demons and warlocks."

"But it happens," Thomas countered. "And I don't intend for you to plan my downfall as well. That's why I've come to you."

"What are you talking about?" Lina asked.

Without answering, Thomas extended his right hand and a sparkling ball of energy flew from it, hitting Lina right in the chest. She was thrown backwards into the door, which fortunately didn't crack. Before she could register what was happening, Thomas had grabbed her by the shirt and flung her across the room; this time she slammed into the wall on the opposite side. He advanced upon her, tossing an energy ball up and down all the while.

She suddenly shot a bolt of lightning at him. It just barely missed his face, but disintegrated his ball of energy. She took the chance and swept Thomas' legs from under him, throwing him to the floor. She stood up and fired electric bolts from both her hands at Thomas, causing him to jerk uncontrollably in pain for several minutes. Finally, she stopped, leaving Thomas smoking, but still alive.

"Does it hurt?" she asked slyly.

"Stings," Thomas replied, slowly standing to his feet, "but you're going to have to do better than that to destroy me. No one has been able to destroy me for hundreds of years. I'm practically invincible."

"Which is exactly why we should be working together," Lina reasoned. "Fighting each other isn't gonna solve anything except wasting time. I know about your history, okay? I know that you're a very powerful warlock. I just need you to do your job while I do mine."

"When your job consists of stalking a witch because you love him," Thomas said, "then that's where I stop doing my job to make sure that you're doing yours."

"Like I said," Lina said reassuringly, "I know what I'm doing. Now get out of here. I have to clean this mess up and you have witches to kill."

Thomas hesitated for a brief moment, then faded out of the room. Lina sighed as she continued staring at James' picture. Her mind was fighting with itself. Was she falling for this man? She started picking up chairs and replacing things that fell or toppled over.

* * *

_Hmm, Lina's definitely got something up her sleeve, but what exactly is it? Meanwhile, how are James and his brothers gonna work their way out of possibly being exposed? Well, there's only one way to find out; check back! Coming up: the brothers try to work their way out of possibly being exposed._


	8. Inside the House Part I

"Good job on that, Jimmy," Matthew said as James drove his brothers down the highway. They were headed towards Buckhead, an area of Atlanta inside the Perimeter that was very prominent. It was also the place where Erik and Lauren, their birth parents, lived.

"Yeah," Wesley agreed from the backseat. "I don't think I could ever have told such a complicated lie to my mama the way you did. And you did it with a straight face, too! I think I'm starting to rub off on you!"

"Maybe," James said uneasily, "but it wasn't easy. My dad and I have this thing where we don't keep any secrets from each other. That's why we're so close and all."

"But you did the right thing, you know," Matthew said. "You couldn't risk putting him in any danger if you told him."

"Well," James said, "I couldn't have pulled it off without the two of y'all, so thanks."

"I mean that was _some_ lie!" Wesley continued from the back. "Hell, I was believing it myself for a minute. Now usually I pull lies out of my ass and they work just fine, but _yours_ was just…it was…"

"We get it, homeboy," Matthew said.

"Fine," Wesley said, "but you gotta admit that it was one hell of a lie."

"Okay," Matthew said. "I admit that much. How'd you think of that, anyway, Jimmy?"

"I don't really know," James answered. "Now help me look for the house. It's on this street: number 934."

James drove slowly down the street, Eaton Avenue, while Matthew and Wesley looked for the address. It had been such a long time since they last visited that they just forgot where it was. Truthfully, though, they were slightly afraid of going back, since it was there that they saw their birth parents murdered after meeting them earlier that day.

After passing it twice, the brothers finally found the house. Upon finding it, they wondered why they had even passed it in the first place; it was enormous. It was all coming back to them. James parked in the driveway and they all made their way to the door. It was a large two-story house, painted a sort of tan color. It had a majestic look to it, like it was some sort of manor or estate.

James inserted the key into the door and opened it, leading his brothers inside. Everything looked brand new; the furniture, the décor, the floors and carpets, all looked as if they had just been bought and delivered. There was no trace of anything supernatural, which relieved the brothers. They had all expected the house to be in the same condition as it was the last time they were there. They all expected it to be set up like a crime scene, with broken windows, busted walls, destroyed furniture, and the like.

"It didn't look this good when they were still living here!" Wesley exclaimed. "I can dig this!"

"How did everything get all cleaned up like this?" James asked, looking around.

"Well," Matthew said, "the letter said that everything was taken care of. Maybe this is what she meant."

"I guess," James said. "Let's go upstairs and look around."

"Hey," Wesley said, pointing to another staircase, "there's another staircase over there. Maybe it goes to a basement."

"Wanna go in?" Matthew asked.

"Hell no!" Wesley replied enthusiastically. "It's dark! Something might be after me!"

"Like that warlock?" James asked. "What was his name again?"

"Thomas," Matthew answered. "And let's hope that he stayed vanquished this time."

* * *

James walked upstairs, while Matthew explored the kitchen and Wesley looked around the living room. Before any of them could do anything, Matthew shouted, quickly drawing his brothers' attention. They ran into the kitchen to see Thomas, the warlock they had killed only a short while ago.

"Didn't we vanquish him?" Matthew asked quickly.

"Maybe they're twins," James suggested.

"_Twin_ demons?" Wesley asked. "That's the dumbest thing you've said all night. Where's the Book?"

"In the truck," James said. "Don't you remember the spell?"

Thomas threw an energy ball at the brothers, who all barely managed to dodge it. It hit a large clock behind them, shattering it upon impact. James waved his hand and Thomas was sent flying into a wall with tremendous force. He pushed his brothers out of the room, telling them to go and get the Book of Light from the truck. Before he could say another word, Thomas kicked him in the chest, knocking him onto the floor. James grabbed the closest object near him, a chair, and threw it at Thomas, who destroyed it with an energy ball. He looked around and saw pieces of wood that had been scattered everywhere when Thomas attacked the clock. He telekinetically threw them at Thomas. They penetrated his skin and he yelled in agony before disappearing. Matthew and Wesley sprinted out of the kitchen and headed towards the truck.

As Wesley opened the front door, he let out a slight murmur of surprise. Thomas was standing in front of him, about to knock on the door. The warlock looked slightly surprised to see Wesley and Matthew standing before him, and was about to use his power when Wesley froze him with a flick of his hand.

"Okay," Matthew said, "who volunteers to go back into the kitchen? I thought we left him back there."

"Took care of him," James said, brushing dust off his shirt and joining his brothers. "I…what the hell is that?"

"It's the same damn guy you just took care of!" Wesley answered. "Don't you know what it means to take care of something?"

"He should be dead," James said.

"What the hell is going on here?" Wesley asked.

Just then, Thomas unfroze and threw Wesley into Matthew with such force that they both flew backwards. James waved his hand and the front door closed, slamming into Thomas' face. Matthew and Wesley picked themselves up and joined James. Suddenly, the door glowed briefly and exploded. Thomas stood in the now empty doorway, staring at the brothers with a look of pure disgust. Wesley returned the look and froze him, but this time he managed to break through Wesley's power. He immediately retaliated with an energy ball. Wesley didn't know what to do; everything had happened so fast and he had expected Thomas to be frozen. He covered his face with his hands, thinking that that would solve everything. Matthew reached out towards Wesley and made him transparent so that the energy ball passed right through him. His puzzling power had saved his brother. He sighed loudly as James took over and threw the warlock out of the house with a wave of his hand.

* * *

_Stupid Tom! He just won't stay dead. I guess some warlocks just don't learn. Oh well…Coming up next: the battle continues and the brothers are evicted…_


	9. Inside the House Part II

"Am I dead yet?" Wesley asked, uncovering his face.

"No, wimp," James said. "You're still alive. Matt, what was that thing you just did?"

"What did he do?" Wesley asked.

"I don't know," Matthew said. "I think that maybe my powers are getting stronger or something."

"He did it again?" Wesley asked. "Good job!"

"Two in one night!" Matthew said. "What's next?"

"I think he picked himself up and left," James said as he peered out of the doorway. There was no sign of the warlock anywhere.

"Are you kidding?" Matthew asked. "What's he trying to do to us, wear us down?"

"Where'd he go this time?" Wesley asked.

"Nowhere," Thomas responded, standing behind the brothers.

Matthew jumped upon hearing the warlock's voice. He leapt into the air and kicked the warlock in the stomach before he could be attacked himself. He backed away slowly, waiting for Thomas to make the next move. Thomas gathered himself and looked around to see Wesley and James, standing next to a bookshelf, ready for action. With a wave of his hand, Thomas caused the bookshelf to telekinetically topple over onto them, keeping them occupied.

Matthew ran towards Thomas, preparing to jump kick him. But while in the air, Thomas waved his hand again and Matthew veered off-course and landed on the coffee table, breaking it. While James and Matthew were out of commission, Wesley suddenly reappeared in a shower of blue lights, standing in the same place. He was, as usual, oblivious to the fact that he had even disappeared in the first place. Thomas was taken aback at seeing this; he hadn't figured that any of them would be able to do that. Wesley took the chance to freeze him. This time he stayed frozen. Slowly, books began to fly in every direction as James used his power to fling them away. Meanwhile, Matthew had come to and was making his way to the sofa to sit.

"Jimmy!" Wesley shouted, ducking. "Watch out, man! You almost hit me with a book over here!"

"Sorry," James said, emerging from the mountain of books piled on top of him. "How did you get out of here so quickly?"

"I don't know," Wesley said. "Maybe I'm just better than you are."

"I don't think so," James said as Matthew stepped in.

"Not now, guys," he said. "We need to find a way to vanquish him."

"He won't stay vanquished," Wesley complained. "What can we do?"

"Well," James said, "for one thing, we can't stay here. And we can't stay with my dad, either. We can't go back to the school since it's closed for the break. We'll have to find a motel or something."

"A motel?" Wesley asked in disbelief. "That sounds so sleazy. Wesley does not do motels."

"Then Wesley must want to stay here with the warlock," James countered.

"Maybe if we say the spell a third time," Matthew suggested abruptly, changing the subject. "Three seems to be our number these days."

"I'll run and get the Book," Wesley said.

"He'll be unfrozen by then," James said. "_I'll _do it."

James motioned with his hands and seconds later, the Book of Light was floating into the house, past the frozen warlock, and into James' hands. He smirked at Wesley, who only rolled his eyes.

"_Abolish his powers.  
Banish his hours.  
Within this time and space,  
Send him away forever from this place."_

Thomas came out of Wesley's freeze and began to shake uncontrollably as the vanquishing spell took effect for the third time. Thomas screamed one last time as flames consumed him, leaving nothing behind.

"Did we really kill him, though?" James asked.

"We should have," Matthew said, looking at Thomas' entry in the Book of Light. "According to this, we should've killed him the first time."

"Let's find out what went wrong, then," James said, taking the Book from Matthew.

"Do you think he's after this?" Matthew asked.

"Probably," Wesley said nonchalantly.

"Of course!" Matthew exclaimed. "This Book has been in our family for literally generations, right? All of our ancestors wrote all these spells and potions and information and stuff. Think about it; I don't think we'd last long without it."

"I see your point," Wesley said, "but if all of these Thomases keep popping up, then what are we gonna do? I mean, we can't keep killing one warlock forever. Think of all the wear and tear."

"And that's just the beginning," echoed Thomas' voice as the brothers turned around.

Thomas stood on top of the bookshelf that had just fallen on James and Wesley earlier, his eyes fixed upon all three of his targets. James tucked the Book of Light under his arm and he and his brothers prepared to fight. Thomas flicked his hands, intending to freeze them, but nothing happened. Wesley inadvertently laughed at him.

"Silly warlock," he said. "You can't freeze us."

"But I can do _this_!" James added.

He waved his free hand and Thomas went flying into the kitchen. They turned and left the house without a second thought. Moments later, they were speeding down the street in James' truck, never looking back. Meanwhile, Thomas stood up and smiled evilly as he walked out of the door and took to the skies.

* * *

James drove, all the while trying to concentrate after what had just happened. Matthew was in the passenger seat, also irritated at the situation, but choosing to say nothing. Wesley lay in the backseat, talking up a storm as usual.

"Where are we going?" he asked.

"I don't know," James answered. "I'm trying to think of some kind of hotel or something."

"Great," Wesley said sarcastically. "First, we find a warlock that just won't die, then we can't even stay in the brand new house that we just got. By the way, I think I'm gonna take that huge room upstairs on the left."

"I've already marked that territory," James said.

"_Marked_?" Wesley asked. "What did you do, pee in there or something?"

"We'll see how funny you are when you find yourself walking down this street," James threatened.

"You don't have it in your heart to do something like that," Wesley said.

As the arguing went back and forth between James and Wesley, Matthew was busying himself by looking through the Book of Light, hoping that there was something in there that they might have missed. He examined the entry on Thomas intensely, spending minutes on each word, figuring that there may be some hidden message.

* * *

_I'm really starting to get annoyed with this Thomas character, aren't y'all? I hope the brothers figure out some kind of way to take care of him because he's getting more and more dangerous by the chapter! So, coming up next: James, Matthew, and Wesley are off trying to find a place to stay, since they can't stay in their own house obviously (hence, evicted). But can they find a place in time?_


	10. Into the Water

He was in the middle of the entry when a loud thud on top of the car interrupted him, as well as his brothers' argument. A hand came crashing through the passenger seat window, grabbing Matthew's arm. Wesley let loose an obscenity from his mouth while James, shocked at the sudden attack, steered the truck sharply to the left, trying to maintain control. In the midst of the chaos, the three brothers could see that Thomas was back again, trying to rip Matthew from the seat of the truck through the window. Wesley managed to free himself from his seatbelt and tried to keep Matthew inside the truck from the backseat, but he seemed to be fighting a losing battle.

"Freeze him!" James shouted.

"It's not like I haven't been trying!" Wesley shouted back, waving his hands erratically. "It's not working! He's still pulling Matt!"

"Stop the car, Jimmy!" Matthew yelled, trying to fight Thomas off.

James slammed his foot onto the brake pedal, but to his surprise, the car only moved faster and faster as it zoomed down the hill. He tried several more times to stop the truck, but it was all futile.

"I can't!" James replied. "The brake's aren't working!"

"Why can't you use your power, Matt?" Wesley asked, referring to Matthew's phasing ability.

"A little preoccupied here!" Matthew exclaimed.

The truck only went faster as it sped down towards Turner Lake. Fortunately, it was late enough that there were very few other cars on the road, giving James more freedom to swerve and try to knock Thomas off the top of his truck. Due to the constant swerving, Wesley had had a hard time getting a tight hold on Matthew. James' truck turned into the docks of the lake, where he darted his eyes around quickly, trying to find something to safely run into. Directly in front of him was an enormous pile of hay, packed up against the edge of the lake.

"What are you doing?" Wesley asked, eyeing the giant haystack.

"Just hang on, y'all," James yelled.

James rammed the truck headfirst into the haystack and swerved to the right, screeching to a stop just as it was about to plunge into the cold water. Although the impact was lightened, Matthew and Thomas both went flying into the water. Seconds later, there were the sounds of splashes as both of them hit the water.

"Matt!" James called, trying to get out of his seatbelt.

"Wesley had fallen into the small space in between the backseat and James' seat. He had a small cut on his forehead when he finally picked himself up. He yelled for Matthew and hopped into the front passenger seat. He opened the door and almost fell into the water had not James grabbed his arm.

"Whoa!" Wesley shouted. "Thanks for the lift!"

"Sure," James said, trying to unfasten his seatbelt. "My seatbelt's stuck. I can't get it off."

"You might have to just wriggle your way out of it," Wesley suggested.

James sighed, then loosened the seatbelt as much as he could with Wesley's help. It took a lot of struggling and labor due to James' size, but eventually he managed to work himself free.

"Can Matt swim in the dark?" Wesley asked.

"We're about to find out," James said. "Get the flashlight out of the glove compartment."

"James took the Book of Light while Wesley shone the flashlight out into the lake. It was a huge lake, but he and James were both relieved when they saw Matthew's head above the water, slowly swimming back towards them. The two of them climbed out of James' side of the truck and walked around to see Thomas resurface at that moment. He was swimming straight for Matthew.

"Matt!" Wesley yelled. "Swim!"

"Faster!" James added. "He's right behind you!"

Matthew heard his brothers yelling and turned to see if they were right. In fact, Thomas was making a beeline straight for him and he showed no signs of slowing down. That was motivation enough for him to swim as fast as he could. Already freezing in the ice cold water, Matthew freestyled harder than he had ever done in his life, with his brothers cheering him on. After what seemed like an eternity, he reached the dock and his brothers pulled him out. They dragged him to James' side of the truck when Thomas reached the dock. James saw him and sent him far back into the lake with a violent wave of his hand. With the truck out of commission, the brothers ran out of the docks and into the streets. However, they were progressively becoming slower because of Matthew. He was nearly non-functional after swimming so long in the cold water. Eventually, his knees gave out and he collapsed to the ground, shivering very badly. James and Wesley both took their own jackets off and wrapped them around him.

"You th-th-threw me out o-o-o-o-of th-the c-c-c-c-car," Matthew stammered.

"Sorry," James said lowering his head. "The brakes weren't working and there was no better way to stop the truck."

"Jimmy," Wesley said, "we gotta find a place quick. Matt needs somewhere to warm up."

"Okay," James said, looking around. "There's a cheap inn nearby. We'll go there and hopefully we'll be able to stay out of sight long enough to figure things out."

"Figuring things out can wait," Wesley scolded. "Matt's about to start an earthquake with all this shivering over here."

* * *

Matthew was fast asleep in the bed while Wesley sat in a corner, ironing Matthew's clothes over and over again. James was pacing back and forth, trying to think of what to do next. Without Matthew, who seemed to always be the one with the ideas, James and Wesley felt that they were a serious disadvantage.

"You're gonna wear a hole in the floor if you pace any more," Wesley commented. "And we don't need those extra carpet replacing fees."

"You should really get that cut cleaned up," James replied. "It looks pretty bad. Maybe next time you'll wear a seatbelt."

"Oh yeah?" Wesley asked. "Well maybe next time you won't choose to slam your truck into a bale of hay at eighty miles an hour. And maybe next time there won't be a demon pulling Matt halfway out of the car. Besides, I'm doing a lot better than he is at the moment."

The two of them looked at Matthew, who was still shivering although he was asleep. He was mumbling in his sleep, something he usually didn't do. The only words that were audible to Wesley and James were "threw me out the car." James sighed, but Wesley laughed just a little bit.

"I think he's gonna remember this for a while," Wesley said. "It's great bargaining leverage for the future, you know."

"Don't remind me," James said. "He scared the hell out of me when he hit that water."

"What?" Wesley asked, his face sporting a look of surprise. "The Almighty Jimmy got scared?"

"Don't rub it in," James said as he quickly changed the subject. "I've been looking at this page over and over again and there's no kind of secret message that we could've missed. I wish we could figure out why this damn warlock won't die."

"I don't get it, either," Wesley said. "And did you notice his powers? One minute I could freeze him, the next minute I couldn't. Something strange is definitely going on."

"But what?" James asked rhetorically, looking upwards. "We sure could use some help right about now."

"Who are you talking to?" Wesley asked curiously. "The people upstairs won't have an answer."

"Right," James said.

"Listen," Wesley said, "I think we need to get Matt some medicine since we're here. He's gotta have something for whatever he has. At least something to keep him at bay. He's burning up over there."

"How do you know?" James asked. "You feel his forehead?"

"Normally I might do that," Wesley said, "but I'm going by the heat wave coming from his forehead."

"But it's five in the morning!" James protested.

"Fine," Wesley said. "Well, why don't we wait until he ends up with pneumonia or something. Then we'll have a logical reason to take him through emergency."

"Okay, okay," James said. "You're so annoying."

"Share the love," Wesley said.

"You stay here in case something happens," James said.

"What if I get scared?" Wesley asked.

"You're a complicated person," James said, leaving the room.

* * *

_Oh no! Not Matt! I think he's the last person who needs to get sick right about now! Anyway, coming up next chapter: Matt gets sicker and sicker, but will Thomas (the warlock) give the brothers a time out to recover?_


	11. Divided, But Not Conquered

_Wow! This story turned out to be a little longer than I thought! I'm just about done with it now, though, so it should be all finished by Christmas. After that, episode 5 will be well on its way to the production table. However, since I have a life outside of this, I'ma hold off on puttin' up number 5 until after my holiday, which (thanx to not being in college and to the fact that Christmas isn't a national holiday in Japan) is a lot shorter than it used to be…_

* * *

Dawn was quickly on its way, but the sky was still dark for the most part. James pulled his jacket tighter around himself. Realizing how cold he was dry, he suddenly felt guilty about throwing Matthew in the lake. But he didn't have any other choice. Thinking about his brother's condition prompted him to walk a little bit faster. After fifteen minutes of walking, he finally found a convenience store that was open all night and sprinted towards it. Ten minutes later, he was on his way back to the inn with a box of flu medicine. He had decided against walking and jogged back to the inn.

Something caught his eye; he looked upwards and saw a large dark thing flying through the air. James thought that it was a rather large bird, but that thought was quickly followed by the realization that it was wintertime; most, if not all, birds had gone south already. He came to his senses and realized that it was Thomas, flying across the skies, searching for his victims. He turned around and ran as fast as he could. He had to think fast.

* * *

Meanwhile, at the inn, Matthew had finally woken up to a freely running nose. He hastily stuffed Kleenexes in both nostrils and sat up in the bed, feeling miserable. Wesley was in the bathroom, looking for more Kleenex for Matthew. He was genuinely concerned for his brother; since they had all known each other, Wesley could only remember himself getting into situations like this. He was always the one who was in trouble and needed to be saved. He felt sorry for Matthew; he felt guilty that he wasn't the one who was thrown in the water. He would give everything to see Matthew feeling better.

"Matt," he said, "Jimmy went to the store to get you some medicine. Just hang on a little longer. You still cold?"

"Yeah," Matthew croaked through a hoarse voice. "Are you okay? You seem down."

"Save your voice," Wesley said. "I'm fine. I'll go look for some more blankets. You need anything else?"

"A beer," Matthew mumbled.

"Seventeen," Wesley answered, reminding Matthew that he was only seventeen and grossly underage. "Just stay there. Don't go anywhere."

"Like a rock," Matthew replied. "Be careful."

Wesley walked out of the room cautiously, checking every corner for signs of Thomas. When he felt that no one else was around, he walked hurriedly to the front desk, located in another building nearby. Matthew tried to go back to sleep, but his throat was so dry that he couldn't bear it any longer. Slowly, he eased out of the bed and went into the bathroom for a drink of water. Suddenly he heard a soft, but audible cracking noise. He could sense that trouble was on the way and he didn't want to take any chances. He picked up the Book of Light and headed straight for the door. Before he could get there, it swung open and there stood Thomas, much to Matthew's dismay. Despite the almost overwhelming feeling of weakness in his body, Matthew still managed to gather enough strength and kick Thomas in the leg. He dropped the Book and grabbed Thomas' arm, throwing him across the room. As he picked up the Book and headed for the door, Thomas was already picking himself up. Matthew turned around and went straight for him. One well placed punch to the chest sent Thomas crashing through the bathroom door. Matthew held the Book tightly and staggered out of the room, not wishing to stay any longer.

* * *

James was still running away from a flying Thomas. He saw a dark alley and ran into it, hoping that the darkness would conceal him long enough to think of something to do. He leaned against a wall and slowly slumped to the ground, exhausted. Suddenly, an energy ball came at him at an amazing speed. He barely dodged it, but managed to do so nevertheless. The attack left a burning hole in the wall where it hit. James jumped to his feet and saw Thomas grinning slyly at him.

"Missed you by _that_ much," Thomas remarked, gesturing with his fingers. "This time, you won't be so lucky."

Thomas let loose another energy ball from his hand. Before it hit James, however, everything seemed to slow down, like someone had threw everything into slow motion. James looked around; he seemed to be the only one unaffected. He didn't waste any time, though. He moved out of the energy ball's path and telekinetically reflected it back towards Thomas. It hit its new target head on and Thomas was knocked out of his slow-motion state as he flew thirty feet backwards. James felt a hand grab the back of his shirt and he turned to see the last person he imagined he would.

* * *

Wesley was carrying some blankets back to the room when he saw that the door was open. He didn't remember leaving it open. Immediately panicking, he ran into the room to find it completely trashed. The bathroom door was in pieces, debris was everywhere, but more importantly, nobody was inside, or so he thought. In his haste to examine everything, he missed Thomas in the bathroom, who caught him by surprise.

Thomas charged Wesley and before Wesley could assess the situation, he found himself suddenly being forced through the front door. The only thing that went through his mind at that point was the enormous pain from crashing through a door. Thomas grabbed his shirt and threw him back into the room. He landed on the floor with a thud, covered in debris. Thomas walked to Wesley and kicked him while he was still down, laughing when Wesley groaned in pain.

"Does it hurt?" he taunted. "Don't worry. I'll finish you quickly. You're no real threat to me anyway. You're just a weakling."

"Weakling?" Wesley asked, still clutching his stomach.

That word seemed to fuel him and he grabbed Thomas by the ankles, pulling him to the ground. He kicked Thomas in the stomach, wanting him to feel the same way that he had felt earlier. Thomas caught his foot, twisted it, and threw him into the bathroom. Wesley came out of the bathroom to see Thomas standing there, waiting for him to attack. He brought his fist forward as hard as he could, but Thomas only caught it with the greatest of ease. He slowly squeezed Wesley's fist in his own hand as he towered over him, laughing all the while.

"See what I mean?" he said. "You're no match for me. But I have work to do. I'm done playing around here."

With his free hand, Thomas punched Wesley in the chest, knocking him over the bed and into a far wall. He produced an energy ball and was about to throw it when Matthew arrived, panting and out of breath. He stood between Wesley and Thomas and glared at Thomas fiercely. He was still holding onto the oversized Book of Light.

"Freeze him!" Matthew said as loud as he could.

Thomas had already thrown the energy ball. It stopped in midair just as Wesley froze the room. This time, Thomas froze along with the energy ball, much to Wesley's relief. Matthew assumed a batter's pose, holding the Book like a bat, and swung it mightily at the energy ball. The Book of Light was enchanted to repel anything evil, so when it hit the frozen projectile, it bounced back at Thomas with such force that it all seemed to happen in the blink of an eye.

The energy ball struck Thomas in the chest, knocking him out of suspended animation, and outside the room. He hit the ground hard. Sparks were surging across his body as if he had been shocked intensely. Wesley quickly ran to Matthew, who had collapsed in a chair that had managed to remain intact.

"You okay?" Wesley asked. "Where did you go? I got back and saw this!"

"He was here," Matthew said softly. "We need to get out of here."

* * *

_Argh! Stupid Tom is ruining everything for the brothers, especially poor Matt! How will they get out of this alive? And who was that person James saw who he couldn't believe? If it ain't fairly obvious, here's what's coming up next: James finds out who the mysterious person is, while Wesley and Matthew try to recover from the latest attack. Y'all (more like Raya) don't wanna miss it!_


	12. A Surprise Visit

_In an effort to get this all done by Christmas, here's another chapter for y'all (or at least Raya). Excuse the shortness of it, but it's not like anyone's reading it anyway… (except Raya)…_

* * *

James gasped at the person standing before him. She was wearing an immaculately white gown that ran to her feet and a golden glow seemed to emanate from her body. Her long brown hair blew behind her like a fan was blowing it.

"M-Mom?" James asked in disbelief. "But you're…"

"I know," Lauren answered. "I wasn't supposed to come here, but I did. Y'all need my help."

"You scared the sh…" James began.

"Shh," Lauren said, putting a finger to her lips. "I can't stay for long. Listen to me. Thomas, this warlock you're fighting, is a master of cloning. You've all been fighting his clones from the beginning. Even though he weakens when one of his clones is killed, he has still managed to have enough strength to create more."

"What?" James asked. "Are you serious?"

"Yes," Lauren answered. "Let me finish. If that wasn't bad enough, he also has limited copycat powers, meaning that he can copy your powers for short periods."

"I guess that explains why we saw him with different powers at different times," James postulated.

"Believe me," Lauren said. "If Thomas came to the point where he could make multiple clones of himself with all three of your powers at the same time, he would have a serious advantage over y'all."

"Well," James said, "it's not like we're ahead right now as it is."

"You three need to work together," Lauren explained. "You need to find Thomas' original body. That's the one y'all have to kill to end all of this."

"Why wasn't any of this in the Book?" James questioned.

"We all thought that we had vanquished him," Lauren answered. "He never came back, but now it seems like he's making his move. Before any of us could do anything, we were…you know…"

"I know," James said, biting his lip. "But how are we gonna find the real Thomas if we can't get past these stupid clones, which are lifelike, by the way?"

"Y'all have to find out on your own," Lauren said. "You have it in you. As the oldest, you have no choice but to lead your brothers. Tap into the relationship that the three of y'all have. The rest will take care of itself."

"Of course," James said. "The cryptic is always appreciated. Look, how…how are you and Dad doing?"

"We're fine," Lauren said. "Don't worry about us, though. We'll always be watching over y'all, no matter what happens. I have to go now. Tell Matt and Wesley I love them and that we'll see each other again. I'll make sure of that."

With that, her voice faded away, along with her body. James sighed, a million thoughts running through his head. Everything suddenly seemed so strange to him. His attention quickly turned back to Thomas as he saw the warlock began to stir from a distance. He made sure he had everything and ran out of the alley, eager to tell his brothers what had just happened to him.

* * *

_Yay! Lauren did a cameo and came to Jimmy's help! How exciting! Coming up next: things get worse as Matthew's condition becomes serious, but can another stranger be of any help to anybody?_


	13. Taken Away

Dawn was beginning to break. Wesley was pulling Matthew along the street, running anywhere that could provide some sort of safety. He could feel his brother slowing down with every step. Matthew was breathing very heavily and had a slight limp. As they approached the corner of an old street, Wesley looked around, searching for a place to rest.

"We need to stop," Matthew said in between breaths. "I can't go any further…"

"Just hang tight, Matt," Wesley said. "We'll find a place soon, then we can stop and rest for a while."

"Why don't we just rest here," Matthew suggested, pointing down the old street. It appeared to be unused and was littered with cardboard boxes and garbage bags.

"Fine," Wesley said. "We can hide under these boxes."

Wesley and Matthew walked towards a rather large box, big enough for both of them to sit in comfortably, and repositioned it to accommodate them. To their surprise, an old woman and a baby were already inside, hugging each other tightly for warmth. She gasped loudly, catching the attention of other people nearby. Soon, others began emerging from boxes of their own. The street wasn't empty at all; it was home to many homeless people.

"Oh my God," Wesley said. "I'm so sorry. I didn't know…"

"It's alright," the woman said. "You two just scared me. It's okay, everybody."

"Thank you," Matthew said slowly.

"Are you alright?" the woman asked Matthew, who was obviously having a hard time.

"No," Wesley said. "He's sick. We were hoping to hide out here for a while to rest. But I don't think that…"

"What are you hiding from?" the woman asked.

"It's…complicated," Wesley answered.

"Please," the woman insisted, "stay here with us. It's not much, but at least you'll be safer here than you would be roaming the streets."

"Are you sure?" Matthew asked.

"You're not really in any condition to go anywhere else right now," she replied, looking at Matthew.

"Thank you," Wesley said, then turned to Matthew. "Listen, Matt, I'm gonna go to a store and get you some medicine or something. I don't know where the hell Jimmy is. I hope he didn't get a…"

"A cold!" Matthew yelled suddenly.

"Oh yeah," Wesley said, catching himself. He didn't want to say too much around innocent people. "That's what I meant."

"Hurry back," Matthew said.

"Okay," Wesley responded. "You take care and I'll be back in no time."

Wesley jogged out of the street and found a convenience store just a couple minutes away. He quickly searched through the aisles and found some cold and flu medicine. He was almost out of the door when he saw Thomas pacing the street. He gasped, turned back, and ran to the last row of shelves to hide. He felt a hand tap his shoulder and he jumped, instinctively freezing time in the process. He sighed when he saw that it was the store clerk. Angry with the clerk for scaring him, Wesley decided to leave his there.

* * *

He carefully sneaked out of the store and slithered down the street in the opposite direction of Thomas, making sure to keep completely quiet. Suddenly, a pair of hands reached out and grabbed him. Wesley would have yelled, but one of the hands quickly covered his mouth. He was dragged, kicking and thrashing about, behind some bushes. He put up a strong struggle, but stopped when he heard his brother's voice urging him to calm down.

"It's me," James whispered.

"You need to…_not_ ever do that again!" Wesley whispered back angrily. "I almost _hit_ you!"

"Stop dreaming," James said.

"I just saw Thomas walking the streets," Wesley said.

"I saw him, too," James added. "That's why I've been hiding here. I went back to the inn, but y'all were gone and everything was broken."

"Good thing we paid cash for the room," Wesley commented. "He attacked us and we had to make a run for it. Were you scared?"

"Were _you_?" James countered.

"We need to get back to Matt," Wesley said, ignoring James. "I left him to get some medicine that you should've been back with."

"Don't start," James said as they peeked through the bushes.

Thomas didn't look like he was going anywhere any time soon. He walked up and down the street patiently, as if he was waiting for his enemies to come to him. Unfortunately, he stood between where James and Wesley were and where Matthew was. There was no way for them to get back there undetected.

"What are we gonna do?" Wesley asked. "Matt's over on that street on the other side of Thomas. We can't get by him."

"Yes, we can," James said. "We go out fighting hard."

"No!" Wesley beckoned, pulling James back behind the bushes. "We need to get him out of the way, but a fight won't do anything for either of us except get us hurt. Besides, the sun's coming up. Somebody might see us."

"Well then," James said, "what do _you_ think we should do?"

"I don't know," Wesley said before a light bulb flashed inside his head. "Wait! I know! Do you remember the spell?"

"Yeah," James said, "but that's not going to work. He keeps coming back, remember?"

"Yes," Wesley replied, "but if we can get him out of the way for a little while, that would give us enough time to get back to Matt."

"You think it would work from way back here?" James asked.

"We won't know unless we try," Wesley said.

"_Abolish his powers.  
Banish his hours.  
Within this time and space,  
Send him away forever from this place!"_

Without warning, Thomas fell to the floor, affected by the spell. There was no time for him to yell as he disintegrated into nothingness. James and Wesley came from behind their hiding spot, satisfied with the outcome. They ran back to the street where Matthew was, only to find that he was gone.

"Where is he?" Wesley asked. "I left him right here!"

"Are you looking for your friend?" the woman from before asked.

"Yes," Wesley answered. "Did you see where he went?"

"He was taken by…by," she struggled to find the right words to use, "by an angel."

* * *

_An angel!? My word! These angels are just a-poppin' out every which a-way! Oh boy! Coming up next chapter: Who exactly is this angel who came to take Matthew away?_


	14. Divine Help

_I know I said I'd try and get this done before Christmas Day, but hey, what can you do? I be busy these days, so it'll get done when it gets done. Oh yeah, after all my bargaining and pleading with God, another person has finally reviewed this story (per our agreement, I'm off to Calcutta to work with the poor)… MERRY CHRISTMAS, EVERYBODY!!!_

* * *

"Angel?" James asked in disbelief. "What do you mean, _angel_?"

"She came in a sea of golden light," the woman said. "She thanked me for helping him and then took him away with her. She gave me this!"

The woman reached inside her pocket and pulled out an old-looking bracelet. She gave it to Wesley, who examined it closely, but could see nothing special about it.

"What is it?" he asked.

"She said that whatever you do comes back to you sevenfold," she answered. "She told me that this was just the beginning. I don't know what it means, but I'm certainly thankful for it. It's my new good luck charm. Do you believe?"

"I believe she's cracked," James whispered to Wesley.

"We do," Wesley said, pushing James away. "Did she say anything about where they went?"

"Just that she would come back to help you," the woman said.

"Well," Wesley said, "thank you very much. And have a nice day."

"I will," the woman said as she waved goodbye to Wesley and James.

* * *

The two brothers walked down the street, not in any particular direction. After all, they didn't know where to begin. Matthew could be anywhere, which made the task of finding him that much harder.

"Well?" James asked.

"Well, what?" Wesley asked back.

"What's next?" James asked. "First, you leave Matt alone with some crazy woman who sits up and talks about angels. Now, we have no idea where he is. He could be anywhere! And he has the Book with him. He's basically a walking demon magnet, and you left him alone! What the hell were you thinking?"

"What was _I_ thinking?" Wesley echoed. "I was thinking that maybe I'll be the responsible one who says he's gonna do something and actually go through with it. I wasn't the one who started the whole abandoning thing, you know."

"Are you saying that this is all my fault?" James asked.

"It's not mine," Wesley said.

As the argument between the two brothers heated up, a young woman, African-American, appeared in front of them in a cascade of golden light. They were too busy arguing with each other to notice her. She didn't say a word; she only stood there, just a few feet from them, and watched them go at each other verbally. Finally, she decided to take action and stepped in between them.

"Is this any way to act in a lady's presence?" she asked.

"What lady?" Wesley asked. "You're our age!"

"Never mind," she said. "I'm looking for somebody, maybe more than one person."

"Sorry," James said, "we don't play detective outside work hours."

"It involves a person with a 103 degree temperature," she said.

"Uh," Wesley said, "can you describe this person?"

"He talks in his sleep," she answered. "He keep saying something about somebody throwing him out of a car."

"Matt," James and Wesley said together.

"Can you take us to him?" James asked. "He's our brother."

"Brother?" she repeated. "Both of you?"

"Yes," Wesley said, annoyed. "Long story. Just take us to him, please."

"Take my hand," she said, reaching out to both the brothers.

"What?" James asked.

"Take my hand," she said again, demonstrating with gestures. "It's not hard."

"You got jokes," Wesley commented. "I like that."

The two brothers took hold of one of the woman's hands, and they all disappeared from the area in a cascade of golden light. They felt like an invisible force was pulling them in every direction at once, but when the feeling subsided, they were all standing in front of a house.

"How did we get here?" Wesley asked.

"Are you the 'angel?'" James asked.

"I wouldn't say angel," she replied. "I'm more of a doctor."

* * *

She led them inside. It looked small and quaint on the outside, but upon entering they saw that it was much bigger on the inside. On the couch in the living room lay Matthew, fast asleep and hugging the Book of Light very tightly. James walked over and woke him up.

"Homeboy," Matthew said groggily, "you said you'd come back."

"I know," Wesley said, seeing that the woman was watching. "I ran into our 'friend' on the way back and we caught up on old times."

"I got some medicine for you," James said, giving him two pills. "Take these."

"Where the hell have _you_ been?" Matthew asked. "You…you threw me out of the car."

"Is that the only thing you can say to me?" James asked. "Take the medicine."

"Can we get a glass of water for him?" Wesley asked the woman.

"Titilola," the woman said. "My name's Titilola, but please call me Titi. Maybe your brother would like to try some of my homemade medicine? It's really good for what he's got."

"No, thank you," James said gruffly. "We already have the medicine we need. We just need some water."

"No problem, _attitude_," Titilola said, going into the kitchen.

"What did she say?" James asked.

"Attitude," Wesley said, clarifying her words, "because you have one for some reason."

"Whatever," James replied. "Matt, why did you follow her here?"

"I didn't follow anybody anywhere," Matthew said. "I woke up and I was here."

"We thought Thomas got you," Wesley said. "When we came back, you were gone. The old woman told us you had been taken by an angel."

"What?" Matthew asked in disbelief.

"Shh," James said, "she's coming back."

Titilola gave the water to Matthew, who drank it quickly after swallowing the pills. James noticed how pale his brother's face was and knew that the cold water and really gotten to him. He had to make a choice; if they stayed any longer, that would put Titilola in danger. However, Matthew wasn't in any condition to be subjected to a battle any time soon. Weighing the pros and cons in his head, James finally decided on leaving.

"Matt," he said, "I know you're feeling bad, but we need to go. We can't impose on Titi any longer."

"Oh," Titilola said, "I don't mind. Besides, it looks like he needs to rest, anyway."

"I know," James protested, "but we have something very important to handle. You don't wanna know about it."

"As much of an ass as my brother is," Wesley said, "he's right. We don't wanna put you in any danger."

"We're not criminals," Matthew pointed out. "We just have something very important to take care of and we can't involve you in it."

"But we appreciate your helping us," James said.

"My pleasure," Titilola said. "If you ever need shelter again, for whatever reasons, you're more than welcome here. My door's always open to your kind."

"Our kind?" Wesley asked. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means," Titilola said, "don't be a stranger."

"Thanks," James said, "I think."

James and Wesley helped Matthew out of the house and they walked down the street. They discussed their problem along the way and decided to stop at the first available place for breakfast and further plans. They hadn't eaten in quite a while and all three of them were famished.

* * *

_Interesting…So who exactly who is this "Titi" and what is she about? Coming up: James tells his brothers about Lauren, but Matthew is still getting worse… Oh no!_


	15. Time To Make A Choice

The brothers sat around a table inside the nearest Waffle House. James and Wesley had both cleaned their plates, but Matthew had only eaten a quarter of his food. That worried his brothers because they all knew that Matthew was the big eater of the three.

"So what are we gonna do?" Wesley asked. "Are we going home? Or are we gonna leave the state since we can't kill this stupid son of a b…"

"But he can still track us down," James said.

"Then what do we do?" Wesley asked. "It sucks that Matt's sick. He always has the ideas. And he needs somewhere to rest. We can't drag him all around Atlanta all willy-nilly like this. He'll die, or we'll kill him."

"I know," James said. "How are you holding up, Matt?"

"Tired," Matthew said, leaning back in his chair.

"Okay," James said. "I gotta tell y'all this. Last night, when I was on my way back to the inn, Thomas came after me. I hid in an alley and mom came to me. She said hello, by the way."

He spent the next half-hour relaying Lauren's information to his brothers. He would frequently stop to check on Matthew, who at that point was drifting in and out of consciousness.

"So we have to work together to find the exact location of the host body?" Wesley asked, making sure that he was on the right track.

"Right," James confirmed. "She said that we have to do this before Thomas finds a way to make multiple clones of himself in the same place at the same time. It's scary enough that he's coming after us as fast as he is."

"How are we _not_ working together?" Wesley asked. "And where are we supposed to do the whole working together thing? We don't have anywhere to go, unless we can go back to the house."

"Forget the house," James said.

"But…" Wesley began.

"I said forget the house," James repeated powerfully. "That would be the first place he would look."

"Fine," Wesley said. "Another inn?"

"We don't have a choice," James said.

"We do," Wesley said. "Titi said her door was always open to 'our kind.' I think she may know what we are."

"It doesn't matter," James said. "I don't wanna get her involved in this. This is our fight."

"From what I'm hearing," Wesley commented, "this sounds like _your_ fight. Why are you being so belligerent and adamant about this whole thing? Everything can't always go your way, you know."

"What are you talking about?" James asked.

"Jimmy," Wesley explained, "from day one we've always had to do things the 'Jimmy way' because any other way just didn't seem good enough. Even when Matt had the best ideas, it was just better when we did it your way. Don't get me wrong; you've had some good ideas in the past, like when you tricked that Demon of Choice guy "Brother's First, Witches Later" / s1e3. But it can't all be about you, especially now."

"Do you always say the first thing that pops into your head?" James asked after a short while.

"Always," Wesley answered.

"What do you think, Matt?" James asked, eager to get a second opinion.

"I think," Matthew said slowly, "that I need to go to sleep because I feel like crap."

Flanking Matthew, James and Wesley led him outside the Waffle House and to the nearest motel. Sticking close together, they all walked down the street, passing by a park. Along the way, James and Wesley kept at least one of their eyes moving around the scene, searching for Thomas. James decided to take a short cut to the motel through the park, which was quite empty because it was so early. They walked under large trees, hoping that they might not be seen. However, Thomas dropped from a tree directly in front of them, startling the brothers, especially Wesley. James sent him flying back into a tree ten feet away. He hurried his brothers in the opposite direction, but Matthew's weakness slowed them down drastically. The next thing they knew, Thomas had thrown himself onto them from behind, knocking them all to the ground. He picked Wesley up easily and threw him into James, who was still trying to register the situation in his mind. When the two of them recovered, they were horrified to see Matthew in the demon's possession, with a vice-like grip around his neck. Seeing that James was about to use his power, Thomas tightened his grip on Matthew, making him gasp for air.

"Stop that!" Wesley yelled out.

"What do you want from us?" James asked, slowly lowering his hand.

"For starters, that Book you're holding," Thomas replied, eyeing the Book of Light.

"Why do you want it?" James asked.

"What is this, an interrogation?" Wesley asked himself.

"No more questions," Thomas said. "Either your Book or your brother. You make the call."

"Fine," James said.

"No, Jimmy," Matthew called out. "Don't give him the Book…"

"Shut up!" Thomas yelled, strengthening his grip around Matthew's neck. "Give me the Book!"

"We have to give it up," Wesley said.

"Try to freeze him," James said under his breath.

"I've been trying," Wesley replied. "Did you think I was having seizures in my hands? It's not working."

James was caught in a dilemma. The Book of Light signified their lives. It represented their whole line of existence and contained their most powerful secrets. If the Book ever came into evil's possession, they would obviously have a much more difficult time fighting evil. However, James knew that their survival was still a question, even if he surrendered the Book after all. If Matthew was killed, the power of the Complete would be gone forever, opening the door for all evil. Moreover, James would never forgive himself for causing his brother's death. Finally, he made his decision.

* * *

_Crap! This is just like that episode with Krasney, the Demon of Choice… But coming up next: Jimmy makes a decision, but with Matthew's sickness getting the best of him lately, the brothers seem to be at a serious disadvantage…_


	16. Voices In Her Head

"Okay," James said dejectedly. "I'll give you the Book, but let go of my brother first."

"You throw me the Book first," Thomas ordered.

James looked at Matthew and made eye contact with him. He could see the pain on his brother's face, but he also saw something else in his eyes, almost like fire. Without a word, James threw the Book into the air, straight at Thomas. The warlock raised his free hand to catch the Book, but he only held it for a short time. Matthew had taken advantage of the moment and grabbed the hand holding his neck, twisting it mercilessly. He suddenly stood up and guiltlessly kicked Thomas in the stomach as hard as he could. The Book fell to the ground as Thomas doubled over in soundless pain. Matthew was not done; he punched his enemy's face, forcing him down onto the ground. James took over and telekinetically tossed him into the trunk of another tree. He grabbed Matthew and pulled him along while Wesley seized the Book. Before he turned to follow his brothers, he witnessed Thomas disintegrate into nothing. He turned and caught up with James and Matthew, who weren't much further ahead.

They jogged down the street and into an alley, hoping to lose their assailant. Thomas surprised them by materializing in front of them. The brothers braked quickly and ran off in another direction, but once again, Thomas was there to greet them. Wesley noticed the warlock's power of blinking, a demonic ability allowing one to appear in different places in the blink of an eye. Slowly, Thomas advanced upon his prey, forcing them into a dead end. Without saying a word, Matthew grabbed his brothers' hands and jumped into the wall, passing through it as if it were not there. Upon reaching the other side, they broke into a run. After a while of running, they hid in a grove of tall bushes to rest temporarily. Although they panted heavily, they managed to hold their breath when they noticed Thomas searching for them in the vicinity. It seemed like an eternity had passed before he finally gave up and left the area.

"Y'all alright?" James asked.

"Yeah," Wesley said.

"Matt?" James called, hearing no response.

"He's sleep again," Wesley said, noticing the sweat on Matthew's face. He was also breathing very heavily. "What are we gonna do now? This fever is gonna kill him! I think we should get some ice or something."

"Ice?" James asked. "Do you see any ice cream trucks around?"

"Jimmy," Wesley said patiently, "this ain't a good time to be joking around, man. Honestly, sometimes you can be such an ass…"

"But you…" James tried to say.

"But I am trying to help Matt right now," Wesley said firmly, changing the subject. "We gotta decide on something fast."

"Okay," a defeated James said. "Let's find another place to stay, then."

Wesley peeked out of the bushes to make sure everything was clear before giving the thumbs-up to James. He carried the Book of Light while James heaved Matthew over his shoulder and the three of them made their way across the street. Just as they reached the other side, Titilola was standing in front of them, hands on her hips.

"Titi!?" Wesley exclaimed, surprised to see her again.

"What took you so long?" she asked in reply. "Anyway, if you want to help your brother, come with me right now."

"Is that a threat?" James asked suspiciously.

"It's a concern," she said.

"Jimmy," Wesley said, "we need all the help we can get right now."

Titilola pointed to a minivan in the near distance, motioning for everyone to get inside. Deep inside, James knew that Titilola had a good heart, but imposing on her as a stranger, and thereby putting her life in danger, was never his intention. He was about to reject her offer when Wesley gave him a menacing stare. On top of that, Matthew was getting heavier to him. He followed Wesley and Titilola to her minivan, still a little hesitant.

* * *

"How are you feeling?" James asked Wesley.

"I'm in pain, as usual," Wesley said, pointing to Matthew, who was fast asleep, "but not as much as Matt over there."

"Give him this," Titilola said to Wesley, giving him a cup.

"What is it?" James asked cautiously.

"It's a special home remedy," she answered. "He seems to have the flu and maybe some symptoms of early pneumonia. This is good for it."

"Are you some kind of doctor?" Wesley asked. "Because you seem to know a lot about this stuff."

"You can say that I'm a doctor," Titilola said. "It's more like a special doctor."

"And you think that this homemade stuff is gonna magically cure my brother overnight?" James asked skeptically.

"You mean just like that flu medicine you bought for him?" she countered.

"Touché," Wesley said, turning to James. "Jimmy, Titi is offering us her home and her help. Can't you just pull out whatever you have in your ass and trust her for once?"

"Right on," Titilola said softly as James gave a hesitant look.

"Jimmy!" Wesley snapped, "I don't know why you're being so damn overprotective all of a sudden, but you need to let it go. _I'm_ giving this stuff to Matt."

"Okay, okay," James said.

James held Matthew's head up while Wesley slowly poured the contents of the cup into Matthew's mouth. After about thirty minutes, Matthew's fever had almost returned to normal, and he didn't look as pale as he had earlier. He woke up, feeling much better. Neither Wesley nor Titilola told James 'I told you so.' Instead, they both shot him a look that needed no words.

"Thanks for helping us _again_, Titi," Wesley said.

"No problem," Titilola said. "I see that you three are very close. It's pretty rare for brothers to be this close these days. As long as y'all take care of each other, everytyhing will always work out for y'all. Remember that."

"I'm…" James struggled to say before Wesley prodded him in the shoulder, "I'm sorry for doubting you. I should've trusted you from the beginning."

"Water under the bridge," Titilola said.

"But how do you know about all of this stuff?" Wesley asked. "You don't look much older than any of us. Plus, why are you so willing to help us out? Not that I don't appreciate it and all, but it's been on my mind lately."

"It's the 'family business,'" Titilola said simply. "I don't wanna spend all day talking about me, though. I won't ask about your situations, either. I'm helping you because I trust my instincts. You three are the good ones."

"Good ones?" Matthew asked. "Do you know about us? Is that why you've been following us?"

"Don't get it twisted," Titilola said. "I haven't been following y'all. I was led to y'all."

"Led to us?" Wesley asked. "By who?"

"By _whom_," Titilola corrected. "And by the voices in my head. They've been telling me to help three young men in trouble. I just assumed that y'all were the three. Nobody else looked that much in trouble."

"Could you recognize any of the voices?" James asked.

"Nope," Titilola said. "Never heard of 'em."

* * *

_I wonder who those voices are... Coming up next chapter: Matthew's getting better (finally), but is he up to the challenge of finding Thomas' host body? Are any of them for that matter? Also, Jimmy gets a phone call..._


	17. Three Premonitions!

Titilola invited James, Matthew, and Wesley to spend the night in her house. This time, they all accepted without any hesitation, although James still felt uneasy imposing on her and putting her in danger. The next morning, Matthew felt even better than before. Although he had a slight fever, he was all set to join his brothers in locating Thomas' host body. James had asked Titilola if he and his brothers could have some privacy for a while. She gladly obliged without any questions and once again, James reminded his brothers about what they all had to do.

"We know all of that!" Wesley exclaimed. "What we don't know is _how_ to find him. What did she mean, 'work together?' We do that all the time."

"I don't know," James said. "She said that it's the only way we'll be able to find him."

"Try to get a premonition or something, Matt," Wesley suggested to Matthew.

"I can't, dumbass," Matthew replied. "That's not my power. I only had that when Jimmy overcast that spell and it backfired on the two of us."

"Oh," Wesley sighed. "Sure would come in handy right now."

"Wait!" James suddenly shouted.

"What?" Wesley jumped up, ready to freeze anything.

"Sit down," James said, pulling Wesley back down. "I just figured something out. Remember that letter? There was that part about where all our powers came from, right? Dad had the power to sense things before they happened, like Spiderman's spider-sense."

"So?" Wesley asked.

"So," James continued, "when I did the focusing spell on you, it made you concentrate on one thing. What if the same thing happened to Matt?"

"Are you trying to say that you _induced_ a power that I don't have?" Matthew asked.

"A power you don't have _yet_," James corrected. "I think that if we all concentrated, you could get a vision of where Thomas is."

"That's crazy," Wesley said.

"It's the only idea we've got," James said, "and I came up with it all by myself."

"You wouldn't have thought of it if I hadn't reminded you of it," Wesley said.

"Not now," Matthew said, stepping between both his brothers. "So we have a plan. Now we need to put it into action."

Matthew closed his eyes and pictured Thomas' face in his mind intensely, hoping to get lucky and have a premonition. Nothing happened. He tried again and again, but still nothing happened. Then James and Wesley started concentrating on the warlock. They all flashed images of him inside their heads, hoping to somehow figure out his true whereabouts. As they concentrated, their hands unconsciously moved towards each other and soon they were all holding hands. As vivid as life, a vision struck, but not just Matthew. All three brothers had received premonitions, different ones. As quickly as the visions came, they ended. They all opened their eyes at the same time, looking as if they had just gotten off the scariest rollercoaster ever.

"That was weird," James said. "I think I just got a…"

"Premonition?" Wesley asked. "I think so, too."

"Same here," Matthew said.

"I saw us driving down a highway," James said. "It was I-20, headed way outside the city. There was a sign that said 'Burdett, Georgia, Population 43."

"That's not what I saw," Matthew said. "I saw us walking down an old trail in the woods. It looked like any other trail we've seen before, though. Wait! There was a tree with some kind of drawing on it. It looked familiar, but I can't put my finger on it."

"I didn't see that, either," Wesley said. "All I saw was a cave. We were just standing in front of a cave. Pretty self-explanatory."

"Sounds like an expedition to me," Matthew said. "Could take all day."

"Maybe we should go back home first," Wesley said. "I'd kinda like to change my clothes, since I've been in them for a few days now."

"What if Thomas is waiting there?" Matthew asked.

"Well," Wesley thought out loud, "the two of y'all could keep watch while I change my clothes. I know it's not necessary for y'all."

"We haven't been able to fight him off at all, though," James said.

"Okay," Wesley replied. "How about this: we don't have a car to get around in."

"They're at the school," Matthew said.

"Then what about going to the school, then to the house?" Wesley suggested.

"Are you gonna nag about this until we cave in?" James asked.

"Yes," Wesley said, smiling.

"Let's at least leave Titi a message," Matthew said. "Since we're in a hurry, we need to leave right now if we wanna get a cab or bus or something back to the school."

Wesley neatly wrote a note for Titilola and left it on her coffee table, where it would be easily noticed. They hurriedly left the house and minutes later managed to hail a cab to take them back to Oxford. They arrived there about twenty minutes (and fifty dollars) later. The campus looked so different when it was empty. It resembled more of a ghost town than a college campus. They all hopped into Matthew's green Acura and soon they were headed down the highway, with James at the wheel. Wesley navigated from the passenger seat, while Matthew slept in the backseat. He wanted to get as much rest as he could so that he would be in fighting shape.

"Here's Burdett, Georgia," Wesley said, pointing to a spot on his map. "It looks like it's just hours and hours away from any civilization. I guess that's why only forty-three people live there. It's about three hours and a half from downtown Atlanta. The trail looks like another hour of walking. Looks like it's go time, brothers of mine."

"In the meantime," James said, "you watch out for Thomas in case he tried to catch a ride on top of the car again."

"Yes, sir," Wesley said as a cell phone rang. "Who's calling you?"

* * *

_Who indeed!? I guess we'll find out next chapter, which probably won't be out until tomorrow. I'm tryin' my hardest to finish this before 2005, so wish me luck! And shouts out not only to **Raya (insert name here)**, but now to **chyp** as well! I knew y'all would come around sooner or later!_


	18. Calm Before the Storm

_Quick note: I really appreciate the e-mails and feedback I've been getting about this story and the other three. I can't say it enough, but THANX A LOT!!! And to that certain one who commented about me saying "y'all" all the time: I'm from Texas!!! It's how we do!!!_

* * *

"It's Lina," James said, passing Wesley his phone. "You talk to her until I get situated enough to talk."

"Okay," Wesley said. "Hello?"

"Hey, sexy," Lina said over the phone.

"How'd you know it was me?" Wesley asked.

"This isn't Jimmy," Lina said.

"It's Wesley," Wesley said.

"Who?" she asked.

"Jimmy's brother?" Wesley reminded her.

"Oh," she replied. "Didn't know he had any."

"Really?" Wesley asked suspiciously as James grabbed the phone.

"Hey," James said in a peculiarly deeper than usual tone.

* * *

"You know what?" Wesley asked, inserting his opinion. "That chick, Lina, seems shady to me. I think you should dump her."

"Where's that coming from?" James asked. "You've never even met her."

"I'm just saying," Wesley said, "some things about her just don't add up. Look, you've been dating her for about two months now, right?"

"Yeah," James said, "so?"

"So," Wesley explained, "she told me that she didn't know that you had any other brothers. Two months can't have gone by without you telling her that."

"I don't think…" James tried to say before being abruptly cut off.

"And," Wesley continued, "even if you didn't tell her about _us_, which offends me by the way, I would think that you'd at least tell her about your brother and sister with your foster family."

"If I can say something," James said, "I think that you're thinking about yourself a little too much right about now. Just because she said she didn't know who you were doesn't mean anything. If it was up to me, I probably wouldn't claim you myself."

"I agree," Matthew said, yawning. He had woken up and joined in the conversation. "So, what are you two talking about?"

"His shady ass girl," Wesley said.

"_His_ egocentrism," James countered.

"How do you know that word?" Wesley asked quickly.

James and Wesley began another of their usual arguments about nothing much, while Matthew just sighed and stared out of the window. The two of them really did get on his nerves during times like these. He often wondered if the three of them really _were_ related.

Besides that, though, one thing that they all had agreed on was that Thomas had to die…quickly. He had tortured them nonstop for the past few days, but now they were on their way to find and destroy the host body, which would end all of the madness, hopefully. They were looking forward to getting rid of the troublesome warlock for good; not only was he responsible for crippling Matthew, he also was beginning to intrude on the brothers' Christmas Break, which was unacceptable by any means. They were going to hurt Thomas so badly that it would send a message to all evil beings to not mess with the Complete, especially during Christmas Break.

* * *

By the time they reached Burdett it was beginning to get dark outside. Dusk was approaching and the sun was just about gone, although the sky was still a faint blue color. Light was starting to become scarce, but there was still just enough to get by. They all got out of the car and stretched; they had been in the car for hours. Wesley held the Book of Light under his arm and they prepared to find Thomas. They left the car in a large clearing of grass and looked around for the trail that Matthew had seen in his premonition. There was only one trail, so they began walking, but soon the trail forked three ways.

"Which way do we go?" Wesley asked.

"I don't know," Matthew said, thinking. "I can't remember which way we were going. There was just us and…the tree!"

Matthew ran and inspected each trail's opening. There were trees that seemed to have been planted as markings for each trail. He saw the tree from his premonition marking the trail to the right.

"Are you sure?" James asked.

"Yes," Matthew said, pointing to the strange design carved into the trunk of the tree. "Here's the symbol."

"Hey," Wesley said. "Where have I seen that picture before?"

"I told you I couldn't put my finger on it," Matthew said.

"Hold on, dumb and dumber," James said, grabbing the Book from Wesley and holding it against the tree. "The symbol on the tree is the same as the one on the cover of the Book."

"I knew I'd seen it somewhere," Matthew said to himself.

"How weird is that?" Wesley asked. "Why is it here? Who put it here?"

"Maybe we got a little help," James said, motioning upward with his head. "Let's go. It's getting darker."

The trail was very long and mundane. Nothing happened as they made their way along the straightforward trail. As Wesley had calculated, it had taken about an hour to reach the end of the trail, which led to the bottom of a hill. It ended in an open space, but in the near distance was the mouth of what looked to be a very large cave.

The brothers stuck together; it was as cold as it was dark by the time they reached the cave. They walked carefully and quietly to keep a low profile. They didn't want to ruin any chances of catching the real Thomas by surprise. After a small eternity of walking, they finally reached the opening of the cave. Even though it was dark outside, the inside of the cave looked ten times darker. Wesley moved closer to James, his panic starting to show.

"Maybe we should go back," Wesley said quietly. "I don't think he's here."

"Stop being a baby," Matthew said. "We're going in. I think we should use the Book."

"What?" James asked.

"He wants it," Matthew reasoned, "so we'll give it to him. We can use it as bait to lure him out."

"What if a clone comes out instead?" Wesley asked.

"We'll cross that bridge when we get to it," Matthew said.

"We're already _at_ the bridge," Wesley said. "Anyway, I'm glad you're back, Matt. Jimmy's plans are horrible."

"At least I don't hide under people every time something comes running at us," James teased.

"I…" Wesley said, stepping away from James, "was trying to make sure you didn't get hurt!"

"So," Matthew cut in, "when he comes out, we'll surround him and hit him from all sides."

"How are we gonna get the Book in?" Wesley asked.

"Jimmy can just float it around the opening," Matthew said. "Then it begins."

"You sure there's not another way?" Wesley asked. He mysteriously found himself back under James.

"On the count of three," James said. "One…two…don't hold my hand back, Wesley…_three_!"

* * *

_Coming up: Like Matt said, "It begins!"_


	19. It's A Family Affair

_Oh Raya! Of course I could finish this in time! I like to do things at the last minute. That was once my middle name before I had it changed. Anyway, I'm out for the 2005, so I just wanna wish all of y'all a wonderful New Year (of the chicken). And look out for episode 5 soon!_

* * *

James pushed Wesley away from him (again) and motioned with his hand. The Book of Light floated gracefully around the front of the cave's opening.

"Thomas!" he shouted, "we got the Book! If you want it, come and get it!"

"It's about time," Thomas voice resonated around the brothers. "I've been expecting you."

"Where are you?" Matthew asked. "Show yourself."

Thomas suddenly appeared behind the brothers, startling them when he cleared his throat. They all turned around to see him standing there, about twenty feet away, with his arms folded across his chest.

"What were you saying about Matt's plans?" James whispered to Wesley.

"Didn't you ever wonder why you managed to get here uninterrupted?" Thomas asked.

"The thought _did_ cross my mind once or twice," Wesley said to himself loudly.

"Stop that!" Matthew said, glaring at Wesley before turning to Thomas. "If you want the Book, _you_ come and get it."

"You came to give it to me," Thomas said, walking towards them. "_You_ bring it to _me_."

"No," James said forcefully, pulling his brothers closer to the cave's opening. "We didn't want to come here in the first place."

"Stop messing around, witches!" Thomas roared. "Haven't you had enough fun yet? You'll never be able to vanquish me. I've lived long enough to see all your ancestors die. I've waited for the day when I'd be able to meet the infamous Complete, so I could kill them myself."

Thomas burst into laughter. Taking advantage of his temporary distraction, James turned and shoved his brothers into the cave. It was too dark to see an inch in front of them, but they were prepared. They each pulled out flashlights and switched them on, illuminating part of the area. Once inside, they noticed that the cave itself was not as spacious as they had thought. They quickly jerked around to see Thomas standing behind them, still laughing.

"Congratulations," he said, "you've found me. Not too bad for amateur witches, I'll admit, but now you're dealing with the real me. You have no idea how powerful I really am."

"I guess we'll just have to find out, then," James said.

Thomas thrust his hand forward and James was snatched backwards, flying through the air and slamming into the rock wall behind him. He fell to the ground, dazed, while his brothers looked on in amazement. Thomas used the same power to attract the Book to him, since James had dropped it, but Wesley jumped up and caught the Book in midair, securing it. Matthew turned to attack Thomas, but the warlock seemed to be ready for him.

After a few punches, Matthew found himself in defense mode, struggling just to keep his ground. He was beginning to tire while his foe was not showing any signs of weakness. His arms began to get sore as he blocked punch after punch. The fight didn't last too long, but it was enough to completely wear Matthew down. James had meanwhile recovered and, seeing his brother fight a losing battle, sent Thomas flying through the air with a wave of his hand.

"Matt!" Wesley shouted, running to his side, "are you alright?"

"I've had better days," Matthew said, shaking his head vigorously.

"What about you?" Wesley asked as James joined them.

"Bump on the head," James said, "but otherwise okay."

"Consider that a warm up," Thomas said, picking himself up.

Thomas used his powers again and the Book flew out of Wesley's grip and flew through the air towards him. James quickly reacted and used his own powers. Soon, he and Thomas were engaged in a telekinetic tug-of-war with the Book of Light at stake. Matthew was about to attack Thomas when a clone suddenly faded into existence and began to fight him. Wesley lunged at the clone from behind and together, he and Matthew managed to subdue it, causing it to vanish.

"I got an idea," Wesley said between breaths. "Say the spell with me."

"_Abolish his powers.  
Banish his hours.  
Within this time and…"_

With his free hand, Thomas pointed at Wesley and Matthew and they were suddenly thrown into each other. Another clone appeared and attacked them mercilessly. The clone kicked Wesley in the stomach, then picked him up and threw him to the ground with tremendous force. Matthew tried to hold the clone off, but he was still too weak and the clone easily tackled him to the ground.

"Get up!" James shouted to his brothers. "I'm dying over here!"

"Join the club," Wesley said, pulling himself up. Every part of his body was aching and he fell back to the ground, exhausted. "I can't move; I hurt too much."

"Same here," Matthew said.

Thomas focused and the Book inched closer and closer to him. James was getting tired, but he had no other choice but to keep trying. He was fighting not only for himself and his brothers, but for his entire family, going all the way back to William White, the first good witch who had created the Prophecy of the Complete. He kept thinking about his family; he thought about his brothers and his parents, who were killed right in front of him. These thoughts fueled him to keep fighting, but the overuse of his powers was quickly taking its toll. Finally, Thomas forced him to the ground and the Book landed in front of his feet.

"It would have been easier to just give it to me," Thomas said, reaching down to pick up the Book.

As he reached for the Book, it covered itself in a brilliant white shield of light. Thomas found that he could not penetrate it. He yelled in frustration, but did not give up. He called on all of his power and began to fight through the Book's shield. Bit by bit, he eased his hands through the shield, getting closer to the Book. Meanwhile, James crawled to his brothers, who were sprawled on the ground.

"We have to do something," James said, shaking his brothers back to reality. "He's breaking through to the Book. If he gets hold of it, we're dead."

"I'm halfway there already," Wesley groaned as James shook him harder. "Okay, okay, I'm up, I'm up."

"What can we do?" Matthew asked.

"We can't do anything," Wesley said. "He won, we lost."

"Not yet he has," James said, standing up. "We're not out yet."

James pulled Wesley and Matthew up and they watched Thomas break through the Book's shield. He was having a hard time getting through, but nevertheless he was getting through. James walked towards Thomas, but Matthew and Wesley both grabbed his arms and held him back.

"What are you doing?" Wesley asked.

"What do you think?" James answered. "I'm going to get the Book back."

"You can't do it alone," Matthew said. "We're all in this together."

The moment Matthew said that, they all began to glow a faint whitish-yellow color. While they were still in contact with each other, James flicked his hand and Thomas was hurled away from the Book with such force that he flew out of the cave. With another motion, the Book magically made its way back to the brothers.

"I don't know where you got that power boost," Thomas said, re-entering the cave, "but it's not going to save you."

"Think again," a voice echoed throughout the cave.

Thomas and the brothers looked around to find the source of the voice. The light that was emitting from James, Matthew, and Wesley intensified. Soon, the entire cave was illuminated. They all looked around to see transparent but visible people appearing inside the cave. They were all generating a warm feeling, letting the brothers know that they were safe. All of the ghostly bodies held hands and began chanting a familiar spell. Then the brothers heard the voice again.

"Say the spell with us, boys!" the voice shouted.

"Mom?" Matthew asked.

"Say it _now_!" the voice repeated.

"_Abolish his powers.  
Banish his hours.  
Within this time and space,  
Send him away forever from this place!"_

They all repeated the spell over and over again, while Thomas tried to attack. He found himself unable to move. An invisible force was preventing him from moving. As the brothers and the ghosts kept saying the spell, a whirlwind began to form around Thomas, throwing dirt, rocks, and debris at him.

"No!" Thomas yelled. "You can't destroy me! No one's ever been able to destroy me!"

James, Matthew, and Wesley ignored his words and continued to say the spell. The whirlwind became stronger and the overwhelming force began to rip Thomas apart from the inside. He looked around and saw a pair of piercing brown eyes staring at him from outside the cave. He growled at them, but they only winked back at him.

"You said you'd help me!" Thomas roared. "You betrayed me! You betrayed me Lin…!"

He shattered into pieces before he could finish his sentence. All of the pieces faded from existence as the brothers read the spell one last time. They saw the effect and knew that this time, Thomas had been vanquished for good. Lauren appeared behind the brothers and smiled.

"I knew you could do it," she said, startling Wesley.

"Don't _do_ that!" he exclaimed.

"Who are all these…people?" Matthew asked.

"These are all of your ancestors," Lauren explained. "We all came to help you. We wanted to make up for not being able to vanquish Thomas ourselves. With all the extra witches reading the spell, it had no choice but to work."

"Oh," Wesley said. "Hi, everybody."

"We've done our job," Lauren said. "We have to leave now."

"Wait!" James said. "How are you and Dad doing? Talk to us?"

"We're fine," Lauren said. "We're proud of you, all of you. We'll always be with you, so don't forget that. Remember that no matter what happens in the future, as long as you help each other, everything will be fine. And enjoy the house…"

"How's heaven?" Wesley shouted as Lauren and the rest of the ghosts vanished from the cave.

"Nice!" they all replied as the cave became empty once again.

"Well," Matthew said, "another satisfied client."

"Right on," Wesley agreed. "Hey, did y'all hear Thomas right before he exploded, or whatever he did? It seemed like he was talking to somebody else, like someone set him up. He said 'Lin…" something. Sounded a lot like _Lina_."

"Don't start," James said. "It's been a long day. Let's get out of here and enjoy what's left of Christmas Break."

"Shotgun!" Wesley yelled as he shot off towards the car, with his brothers chasing him.


End file.
